The Cat Demon of Notre Dame
by DisneyandTMMLover
Summary: A TMM version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Ichigo as Quasimodo, Kisshu and Masaya as Esmeralda, Mint as Phoebus, and Deep Blue as the Judge. A Kisshu/Ichigo fic and no songs this time. My second parody, WAHOO! Rated T for language and violence, just in case. Please see profile for details
1. The Tale of a Man and a Demon

**A/N: Good day, readers. As you know, I love Disney and TMM, or more specifically, I love movies and TMM. Every time I watch a movie, I just instantly imagine the TMM characters doing something like this and I like the ideas I come up with. I hope you do, too.**

**My casting is simple:**

**Deep Blue – Judge Claude Frollo**

**Ichigo – Quasimodo**

**Kisshu and Masaya – Esmeralda**

**Mint – Captain Phoebus**

**Pudding, Lettuce, and Zakuro – the three Gargoyles**

**Taruto and Pai – Clopin, the Gypsy leader**

**Ryou and Keiichiro – the Archdeacon**

**Just a note, I'm a Ichigo/Kisshu fan.**

**I do not own TMM or its characters or the movie. I hope you all like this and don't hate me for it. Please enjoy.**

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**The Cat Demon of Notre Dame**

Ch. 1: The Tale of Man and Demon

In the city of Paris, there is a church. A giant and grand church loved and respected by everyone in the city. If possible, the church itself may very well be the very heart and the all inspiring icon of Paris. Without it, the people would feel lost in the deep despair of the world's mysteries and darkness. They see to the church as a guide and as a holy sanctuary.

What many known but believe for it to be only a story, there is someone living in the church. Someone who no one sees but always hears.

Up there, high. High in the dark bell tower, lives the mysterious bell ringer. Every day on time, the bells of the church ring to awake the people of its peaceful slumber, to alert them of the time of day, and to wish them all goodnight. But no one knows who it is that performs such tedious and selfless task. No one knows where this person came from or how this person came to be there.

_Unexpected character: "Well I'll tell you, na no da! Hi, everybody! I'm Pudding! And this is my best friend, Taru-Taru!"_

_Unexpected character 2: "Pudding! Can you stop calling me that in front of people? It's Taruto!"_

_Narrator: "You two?! Pardon me, everyone…Where did you come from? You're not supposed to be here till later!"_

_Pudding: "But you introduced the story so boooooorrrrring, na no da! Pudding wants to tell the story of the bell ringer, na no da!"_

_Taruto: "I tried to stop her, honestly. But she does know the story best."_

_Narrator: "Absolutely not! I am the narrator so I know the story best, and this is a task that must be done properly."_

_Pudding: "Oh please, please, please, na no da! I'll never ask for anything ever again, na no da! Please! I'll even use my serious voice to give it the suspenseful and bone chilling effect, na no da!"_

_Narrator: "This is a prologue, Pudding. Not a horror film. And since when did you have a suspenseful and bone chilling serious voice?"_

_Taruto: "You'd be surprise. And the prologue is suppose to be dramatic, right? About how the bell ringer is actually a-"_

_Narrator: "Don't say anything, you fool! –sigh- Fine! If you want to tell the audience the story so much, Pudding, then go right ahead. But ONLY if you make it serious enough to leave a good impression. I don't want you to turn this into some gold-lucky fairy tale."_

_Pudding: "Pudding understands, na no da! Pudding understands, na no da!"_

_Taruto thinks: 'That didn't take any effort at all.'_

_Pudding: "Now then… –serious voice– Listen closely, everyone. For I am about to tell you the tale of the bell ringer. The tale of a man and a demon._

Our tale begins on a cold and dark winter night. When most of the citizens of Paris have all gone to sleep and rest in their warm beds. All except for those who were close to the destruction of a cyniclon hideout.

What is a cyniclon you may wonder? It is said that since Earth was created, cyniclons used to live on Earth before humans even existed. Some stories say that cyniclons used to live during the prehistoric times. But when Earth was changing and many of the dinosaurs were dying, the cyniclons had the technology needed to leave the planet as their kind was on the verge of extinction. Billions of years later, Earth became a livable place again with humans crawling on every inch of it. Only 500 years before today have the cyniclons returned. They missed their home planet and the planet they choose to live on was worst than earth. By a spring of miracle, they found a chance to escape and came back to earth – only to meet this new breed called humans and their first meeting wasn't exactly peace at first sight. They were discriminated for their large ears, their culture, and their strange powers. In time, humans have learned to live with them but due to these differences in beliefs and religions, the cyniclons are considered ruffians, thieves, and 'dangerous' beings compared to humans. Some have accepted them and even joined them while many still reject them and their culture.

The cyniclons only mean to survive on this planet so they do whatever means necessary to do that while still trying to prove to the world that they are good humble creatures. But it is the hatred towards them, and to the people who would dare mingle with them, that truly starts this tale.

Fire lit up the cold, dark night sky. Those who live close by, awoken to the heat of the flames and the screams of many people – cyniclons and humans alike. But no one would dare help them. Not when they can see Paris's guards being the ones to attack this hideout. Many were arrested but for those who resist, well only a few of those ended up killed. Tents and carriages were burned to the grounds and no one was able to escape these soldiers.

Well all except for a few.

Under the docks near the city's holy church and far from the fire, three men – two of them humans and one cyniclon – a fourth member being a human woman, and in her arms is a baby wrapped in rags to keep it warm. One of the humans was the ferry man that steered the boat under the docks, the cyniclon was a friend to the second human, and the second human, who shares the same type of clothing to the cyniclon and the woman, has his arms securely around the his wife and their weeping child.

"Quiet the child, Sakura," the black hair and brown eyed man told his wife.

The cyniclon whispered/yelled, "We'll be spotted."

Looking down at her dear child, Sakura told the bundle in her arms, "Hush, hush, little one. It's alright. Everything will be alright." Cooed by her words, the baby silenced itself and drifted into a pleasant slumber in its mother's arms.

Arriving at the docks, the couple and their friend got off the boat with nothing else but the clothes on their back and the boat man told them, "Four guilders for safe passage." Though as he opened his hand to them, ready to receive his money for risking his life into moving around so late at night, an arrow comes shooting out and stabbing his opened hand. He screamed in his agony and pain as the others gasp and turn their attention to where the arrow came from. To their horror and surprise, they see Paris guards with bows and arrows aiming at them if they should decide to run. It wasn't till longer afterwards that more guards appeared out of the darkness like demon pouncing on their prey, and they surrounded the cyniclon and his friends – leaving them nowhere to escape.

They have been caught.

Then like the devil itself with a black and mighty horse to carry him in, a man with long, thin, shadow black hair, skin as pale as the snow the hooves of his horse walks on, a face stern and strong, normal round human ears, and bright light blue eyes piercing through the darkness of the night and striking absolute fear in any person who dares to look at him. His boney fingers grip onto the rein of his horse and his back straight with proud and content of his capture. He entered the docks beside his men and looking down at the cyniclon and the 'human traitors' that dare to try and escape his wrath without his knowing, he sees the fear and the helpless look of his victims.

One of them just barely spoke his name when he casted their eyes on this unnatural and powerful man. "Judge Deep Blue!"

Judge Deep Blue, the most powerful man in all of Paris. A man who claims to be a man of law and in just 4 years, has complete control over the armies and the police force of Paris. Whomever he claims evil and have stranded away from the light of God, the guards will dispose of them. Whomever he wishes to arrest, they will arrest under the bylaws of the city and God. He is a man who wishes to spurge it of vice and sin and he saw corruption everywhere, except within. The things that he hates most in this world are cyniclons and gypsies – humans who have betrayed man to be with these aliens.

"Bring these vermin to the palace of justice."

Sakura's heart beats faster in her bosom with fear as she leans closer to her beloved in hopes of comfort and protection – a feeling she would always felt when she was with him. But as he was holding her tight to his chest, a hand reaches out and wrenches him away from her. She reaches for him but another guard beside her grabs her wrist to pull her back. She could only watch as the ferry man, her husband, and their friend become handcuffed and pulled away.

"You there! What are you hiding?!" the guard asks unkindly to Sakura's ear. She tries to pull away and hold her baby close to her body to shield him away from these men.

"Stolen goods, no doubt," she heard Deep Blue assumed. She looked at him at with the twitch of his claw he orders, "Take them from her."

She ran.

With alarm and the all-powerful desire to protect her baby, Sakura yanks her hand away from the guard that held her and started running as fast and as hard as she can against the slippery snow.

"Run, Sakura!" she heard her husband screamed for her. It tore her heart in two to leave the man she loved behind but to protect her baby, she must. For she knew that if anyone saw her child, they would kill it.

Seeing her speed and how quickly she was able to cover large grounds on these snowy roads, Deep Blue turns his horse towards her direction and started it in a run. The guards are left behind with the prisoners and they all just watch as the judge runs off by himself after the running gypsy woman.

Sakura turned at every corner she could. Any place that looked like the surrounding buildings and items on the streets could prevent Deep Blue from reaching her. But no matter where she turned to, he was able to follow her on his monstrous horse. She ran with all of her might. Her legs aching for her to stop. Her lungs burning for air. But she must not. Yet with every second she spends running, the closer and closer she can hear Deep Blue coming for her. With every _click-clack_ she heard of the horse running to her, her heart would beat in panic and her legs would push harder. Bu no matter how hard she tried, he just keeps getting closer and closer.

Then at long last, she was able to see a blessing.

Turning at one corner, she sees a dead end but at the end of that dead end there is a space between two buildings wide enough to let her through and a rail she must climb over in order to get away. However, the space between the two buildings are too narrow for Deep Blue's horse to get through, even if he's able to jump over the railing. Sakura, using every ounce of her strength, rushes to the rail and jumps over it only to land on a pile of sacks of sand stacked up at the bottom. Her landing was safe and as soon as she hit the floor, she continues on running – not stopping until she was absolutely certain she can find a safe place for her and her baby. Deep Blue's horse arrived at the rail but as expected, it can't pass and an angry frown appears on the judge's face.

Running out into more open ground, Sakura can see Paris's sacred church. That is her safe haven. She runs up the stairs and immediately pounds on the doors of the church as soon as she was in reach. "Sanctuary! Please give us sanctuary!" she cries, her lungs pushing the last bit of air out of her.

_Click, clack, click, clack_

Then her heart began to drop at the sound of those hooves. Daring a look, she sees the shadow of Deep Blue and his horse riding towards her. Seeing him come out of the ally way, it truly was like seeing the devil coming out to hunt her soul and drag it down to the dark, fiery clutches of hell. Instantly, she turned around to continue running. But unlike how she was able to get away before, she could not this time. Deep Blue's horse gained too much speed and they are in a wide and open area. There are no places for his horse to waste time trying to avoid or places for her to hide. Deep Blue caught up to her and stopping his horse became the very moment he reached out and grabbed the bundle of clothes in her arm. Sakura held on as tightly as she could onto her baby but a kick hits her away, releasing the child. Then as she was pushed back, the floor beneath her caused her to slip and down on the ground that waited for her was the steps. Her head hit the very edge and like an egg, cracked it open. She laid there dying, her vision blurring into darkness as her ears hear the cry of her baby one last time before she died.

Hearing the wailing of the baby brought confusion to the judge. "A baby?" Raising the bundle closer, he removed some of the rags off of the crying child to see if he was not going crazy on this freezing winter night. But as soon as he saw the face of this child the gypsy so desperately tried to protect, his light blue eyes instantly widen in shock and he gasped in shock and disgust of what he sees before him. "A demon!"

Quickly, he hid the face of the baby and franticly looked around for some sort of sign as to what to do with it. Then as if his God were answering his wishes, he sees a sign. He sees a water well not too far away from where he is. Seeing the well, he understood what he must do. He must destroy the child he now holds in his hand. Controlling his horse to move, he approaches the well. Looking down at its watery pit, he raises the baby over it and right when he was going to release it, he hears…

"STOP!" cried Father Shirogane.

Stopping his actions, the devil-looking man turns to see the Father of his beloved church standing there at the top of the stairs from the building. At the open doors, there are two young church boys, one who still looks like a child and the other a preteen. The preteen has long brunette hair tied in a low pony tail and chestnut eyes and the little boy clinging onto his pants has short golden hair and sky blue eyes. These two should not be up at this time, especially not the child, but that is a little concern at the moment. Instead of feeling honored with his holly presence, Deep Blue claims to Father, "This is an unholy demon. I am sending it back to hell where it belongs."

As he said that, Father Shirogane had already kneeled before Sakura's body and held her with care in his arms. "Do you not see what you've done, Deep Blue?" he asked, his face stern but his eyes full of pity and sorrow towards the dead woman he holds. "You have spilled blood tonight in front of our holy church."

"You are delusional, old man. I am guiltless. She ran and I pursued."

But Father Shirogane was no convinced. "But now you wish to add that child's blood on your already filthy hands?"

"My conscious is clear!"

"Say what you want, Deep Blue. You can tell the guards and yourself what you want. But there is one thing you cannot escape from and that are the eyes of our church! The very eyes that have seen what sin you have committed tonight."

Deep Blue was confused by what this human means by the 'eyes of the church'. He turns around to see what the Father meant and when he looked, it shocks him more greatly than when he saw the baby still in his arms. The statues that decorated the church, the saints, angels, and the caring mother of god that would smile on any man before her; now stares down with accusing eyes and no smile on her face. Every pair of eyes of the statue stares down on Deep Blue and for once in his life of power and control, he felt a twinge of fear for his immortal soul.

Sitting on his horse, shivering from the fear that began to grow in his gut the longer he stared at those statures, he asked Father Shirogane, if not begging him to know, "What must I do?"

By then, Father Shirogane had lifted Sakura's body in his arms and he was carrying her into the church where he should have opened the door only moments before this great tragedy came upon his steps. He turns to the frightened man and he replied, "Care to the child and raise it as your own."

"What?!" Deep Blue asked. "I am to be saddled with this misshapen-" But before he could finish that sentence, he looked down at the child in his arms and he thought better of it. This is God's will and if it must be done, it must. But that doesn't mean everything. "Very well. But let her live here with you in your church."

"Here? Where?"

"Anywhere." Looking up at the magnificent building before him once again, he describes, "Just so she's locked away where no one else would see. The bell tower, perhaps. And who knows. Our Lord works in mysterious ways. Even this foul creature may yet prove to be of use to me."

Father Shirogane didn't look pleased when he heard that, nor did he look disappointed. Only analyzing Deep Blue and trying to figure out what it is he's thinking. The two church boys try to do the same and even though the younger one is trying to be brave, his grip on the other boy's pants is tight and secure. Even he would agree that this man is terrifying to look at and now that child must be raised by him? God save her.

"What will you name her?" Father Shirogane asks.

Looking down at the child once again, Deep Blue doesn't answer right away. He stares at the silent baby and notices a bit of red hair peaking out from the cover of the rags. Red hair, just like her mother but Deep Blue didn't think of that when he sees that. He thinks of someone else.

A different woman with darker features and a brilliant beautiful smile.

His cold light blue eyes narrow down at the baby but instead of disgust, there is sorrow in them. It is very faint but it is there and it startles the Father when he saw it.

The woman had favorite fruit, didn't she? It was red. Oh yes. It was strawberries.

"Ichigo. Her name will be Ichigo."

XxX

Now here is a riddle to guess if you can sing the bells of Notre Dame: Who is the demon and who is the man?


	2. Ichigo, the Demon of Notre Dame

Ch. 2: Ichigo, the Demon of Notre Dame

_**18 years later…**_

_Ding, dong_

_Ding, dong_

At sunrise, the morning bells ring throughout the city of Paris. Pulling the ropes of the great bells of Notre Dame is the bellringer herself. A young woman with strength that suppresses any young female of her age, she pulls the rope again and again, and the bells cry their morning song. The big ones roar like thunder and the little ones ring like a bird's song, and all because of this one woman.

It's not only her strength that separates her from others. After pulling one rope, she swings and leaps to another like how a monkey swings from one vine to another. She pulls on that one a couple of times, using her own weight and the weight of the other bells to do so. Then she leaps off towards the wooden pillars and runs to the other side of the room on all fours. Yes, on all fours. Without hesitation or fear, she leaps again when she reaches the edge and grabs the last rope she needs to pull for the morning. This time after pulling the rope to ring the bells once, she starts sliding down to solid ground. This whole time, she moves with great agility and grace before landing on the solid floor on her two feet.

Just because she ran on all fours before, doesn't mean that she has four legs. Like anyone, she has two legs, two arms, a torso, a head, shoulders, breasts, eyes, hair, nose, and a mouth. But she also has a long black fluffy tail swinging back and forth as she strolls to the outside of the Notre Dame Bell towers. She walks to the rail where there are three angel statues nearby and in the morning light, her shoulder length red hair shines like fire and her clear olive skin gives off a healthy glow. She's wearing long dark red pants, as they would be easier for her to move around in, and a long sleeve shirt with a dark pink tank-top look while the sleeves are a much lighter pink sleeves. She also wears golden sandals on her feet. By clothes and body, she looks like everyone else, minus the tail. However what also makes her different beside her tail is her teeth, her ears, her eyes, and the extra abilities that come with them. Instead of having normal ears, she has fluffy black cat ears on the top of her head that can hear things clearly for miles. Instead of normal teeth, her canines are longer than normal and they're sharper – like animal fangs. And instead of normal looking eyes, hers are sharp with vertical pupils like a cat and they can see in the dark and so many things in such a clearer picture. The bellringer, Ichigo, she's more than just a girl. She's an eighteen year old girl with cat like features and abilities – the kind no one has ever seen before.

Once at the rail, Ichigo looks down at the world below her. At this particular spot, there is the Town Square and down there, the preparations are being made. Tents of an array of colors are being pitch up. Stands for food and games are being equipped for whatever they're going to be and stages are being decorated for the performers. The people down there are not just stage set-uppers. There are all kinds of people down there, but mostly gypsies and cyniclons. Ichigo can hear all of their discussion. Not kidding. Thanks to her ears, she can hear the arguments on how things are suppose to look and the orders being given out on what to get and what to cook. She can hear all of that when she's more than five-hundred feet above ground level. It's also thanks to her eyes, that she can see such great detail. She can see the faces of the workers and the performers who have time to help.

After ringing the morning bells, these are just one of the many past times Ichigo enjoys before she has to do some other chore or decide to do something else. But she takes delight in people-watching the most, only today it doesn't please her like usual. In fact, it causes her to frown and her ears to flatten against her head in distress. A distant and lonely look appears on her face.

Then with a sigh exhaled, a ghost smile appears in Ichigo's lips before she says, "Good morning, Pudding. Lettuce. Zakuro."

Right behind her, quite literally, there is a young girl who froze in taking another step closer to Ichigo. The girl could appear not much older than thirteen or fourteen-years old with short golden hair, sun-kiss tan skin, and amber brown eyes that are wide in surprise that she was caught. She had wanted to sneak up on the cat girl but failed, poor girl. Strange enough, she's wearing an unusual outfit. Her long light yellow dress is flowy with tank-top sleeves and a golden string criss-crossed around her waist as a belt. She's barefoot and she has an orange celestial robe around her arms. That's not the unusual part. She has a set of full-body wings on her back. It's not a part of her outfit. It's a part of her.

"That's no fair, na no da!" the young girl whines, or she goes by the name Pudding. "I wanted to surprise you, na no da."

"Ah, Pudding-san. You know you can't…"

Looking to the side to the one who spoke, there are two others just like Pudding, standing on the side. The one who spoke is the younger one of the two, but she's obviously older than Pudding. She actually looks to be the same age as Ichigo, if not a year older possibly. Unlike Pudding, she has fair olive skin and long green hair that's tied in two braids. She also has big round glasses in front of her sea blue eyes. Those eyes are more like deep pools of emotion that can be very obvious to what she's feeling. Then like Pudding, she has the same style dress, but in shades of green with a blue celestial robe, and she has full-body length white wings attached to her back. She's the one who spoke and her name is Lettuce.

Finally, the woman standing next to Lettuce is the oldest looking one of them all. She looks like she could be in her mid or late twenties but she is a beautiful woman with long, slender limbs and an attractive curvy body. Long, loose dark purple hair and eyes as clear and bright as opals. She's also wearing the same dress as Lettuce and Pudding, with the same size wings as well, but the dress looks so much more flattering on her in its shades of purple. Her celestial robe is white and on her fingers is a bird which she's petting. Actually, she has a lot of birds that's starting to surround her. Her name is Zakuro, and she's the last other angel statue that can come to life.

Lettuce finishes, "Because Ichigo-san is a cat. You can't sneak up on a cat."

"One could try, na no da," Pudding mumbles, pouting. Then she bursts out, "I will not give up, na no da!" That causes Ichigo to chuckle a little.

Ichigo is really the only one in existence who has animal-features so these three girls are what they look like. They're angels, as they claim to be. Honestly, they were statues before they started moving and talking. Pudding used to always be frozen in a position of looking like she's asking something from the heavens, the way her hands would be cupped together and then reaching for the sky. Lettuce would look like she'd be praying; the typical angel stance. Hands closed together, palm to palm, and head bent low. Finally Zakuro, the bird on her hand is not just any bird. It's a part of her look by standing in all her graceful, beautiful glory and gazing at the bird on her hand as if it just landed on her fingers. When they first came to life, it shocked poor young Ichigo but in due time, they become the best company she ever had in these empty bell towers.

The four of them have known each other for a long time. Ichigo's entire life to be exact when she's alone. Actually, she has to be alone for the three of them to come to life and move around. They can only do that in front of Ichigo and no one else. When the young cat girl was a child, they explained that it was because they were sent from heaven to Paris for the city, but mostly for her. God had given them a mission to help bring back peace to this dark city and if they succeed, then they will have their most desired wish come true – becoming human. It's because of that wish that they were chosen for the mission, and they started with Notre Dame where the most tormented soul resides – Ichigo.

Once her laughter calms down, Ichigo looks back down at the festival and this time, her angel friends join the watch.

Forgetting her failed attempt, Pudding gains back her optimism and asks, "What's going on down there, Ichigo onee-chan? A flight, na no da? A flogging, na no da?"

Lettuce analyzes a little more and then corrects, "It's the festival."

"The Feast of Fools, na no da?!"

Ichigo responds, "Uh-huh." She tries to hide her distress but she catches Zakuro's attention.

"Hooray, na no da!" Pudding cheers as she jumps up and down in her excitement. "Finally it's here, na no da! There'll be games, acrobatics, dancing, food, and ooh! Will that cyniclon boy be there, na no da?" Pudding became so excited, her wings started flapping and she's hovering in mid-air. Then she grabs Ichigo's shoulders and starts to shake them. "Can you hear him, na no da? Is he down there, na no da?"

Seeing how hard she's shaking her, Lettuce tries to intervene. "P-Pudding-chan, please. She can't answer you if you don't let her check." The blonde angel stops when she hears that but since it came from the green haired angel, she remembers something.

"Is the purple haired cyniclon there too, na no da? The one who's always with the one I like, na no da? The one Lettuce onee-chan likes, na no da?" Asking Ichigo that made the glasses angel burst red in embarrassment. "They're always the MC at the festival, na no da!"

Lettuce stutters, "P-P-Pudding-chan! P-Please, e-enough…"

"But it's true, right? Na no da?" Lettuce's head started releasing steam like a boiling hot tea pot.

"I didn't see or hear them, Pudding," Ichigo finally gets to answer. However, now the distress is hearable to the others. Pushing herself away from the rail, the cat girl suggests, "Maybe they'll come later. Be on the lookout. I'm going back inside." She does just that.

"Ichigo-san?" Lettuce calls, concerned but the girl kept walking until she's out of sight.

Pudding asks, "What's wrong with Ichigo onee-chan, Lettuce onee-chan?"

Lettuce wonders, "Could she be sick?"

"That's not it," Zakuro answers, finally talking. Having their attention, she adds, "Ichigo has been living in this cathedral for 18 years. Not once has she ever stepped outside. It's only natural for her to want to."

Confused and concern, Lettuce says, "The Festival of Fools is one of Ichigo-san's favorite events. She hardly ever misses a moment of it – not even of the preparations. Are you sure she's not sick?"

"Despite how often she's told she's a demon, Ichigo is human. She was bound to want something she never had before, Lettuce. Why do you think we're here?" Her words ring with truth.

Listening to all of this, Pudding comes to a conclusion. Puffing up her cheeks and with determined eyes blazing, she goes charging inside the cathedral after the red-head. "Then let's go cheer her up, na no da!" Both Lettuce and Zakuro are almost overwhelmed by her energy and they watch her go before eventually, casually, walking in after her.

While the angels were discussing, Ichigo had time to walk to her little living space in the bell towers. It's a few floors up from where she was before and after climbing up the last bit of stairs, the area she sees first is her little studio in the corner. Across from it are shelves of dishes, clothes, and some other food supplies she's given for the day, and beside it in another corner is her sleep area. Right now, the only spot she's interested in is her studio. There she has a table of mini building sculptures of Paris – all perfect replicas of the town below the cathedral. Hanging above the table are pieces of colored glass so that when the sun shines on them at just the right angel, the colors on the miniature town will be like a sunset. However instead of having little figurines to go with the well-crafted buildings, there are scrapbooks and scrapbooks everywhere; on the floor stacked in several piles, and two on the two art stands with a chair in front of one of them. Those giant scrapbooks are full of pictures of people; interacting, doing some sort of activity, and even some face portraits. Thanks to Ichigo's eye-sight, she can see people's faces far away as if they're standing right in front of her so some of the drawings are very well detailed.

The cat girl walks to the art stand with a chair in front of it and she slumps on the seat with a distress sigh. Then looking at her scrapbook, she looks at the page she had turned to before to reminisce. She drew it last year, at the last Festival of Fools, and drawn with charcoal, it's her imagination of what the festival must have looked like from normal view than her balcony view. The dancers dancing, the acrobats doing this tricks, people in costumes and masks, people eating, people playing instruments, and anything else Ichigo could fit on that page. Still, it was a picture of her creative day dream and gazing it, that distant-look shows up again.

Despite Pudding declaring that they should cheer her up, she doesn't go charging in when she sees that look on her friend's face. Lettuce and Zakuro catch up and they see it, too. It made all three of them sad to see Ichigo like that. Since they've been together for so long and have come to care one another like a family, it saddens the angels to see their friend so unhappy.

"Ichigo-san," Lettuce calls, being the first to approach her. Ichigo doesn't look away from her drawings as Lettuce puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. "If there is something wrong, you can tell us."

"Well it's…" she starts. "It's just that…." Then she sighs. "It's nothing really."

Pudding then pops out from behind and says, "Well I hope it's nothing, na no da. You never acted like this before, na no da. You couldn't wait to watch the festival, na no da."

Ichigo tells her, "Watching the festival is different. I guess, I just really want to go to it. See it for what it's supposed to be than what I envisioned." Now Pudding is confused.

"What brought this on, na no da?" she asks. "You didn't complain before, na no da."

Ichigo answers, "Maybe it's because I'm getting older. I don't know. Watching them all these years it just doesn't thrill me anymore like it used to. It would be nice to actually attend one."

Zakuro comes up to them slowly and she asks, "Then why not go to one?" That tears Ichigo away from her artwork. She looks up at Zakuro in surprise and both Lettuce and Pudding look excited about this idea. Zakuro smiles as she says, "If you want to go to one, then just go."

"Zakuro-san! That's a great idea," Lettuce says.

Pudding says, "I can't think of anything better myself, na no da."

Then Ichigo stands straight up and begins to shutter. "B-B-But I c-c-can't!" she tries to say, now getting a bit excited. "I can't go to a festival with people! They'll freak out when they see me!"

Pudding points out, "Most of those humans are in costume, na no da. You'll fit right in,na no da."

"And this could be good for you," Lettuce adds. "There will be music, dancing, and so many different, delicious foods you can eat. Attending a festival will be a veritable potpourri of educational experience, a-and everyone loves the Festival of Fools. It's nothing but fun."

"But..but.." Ichigo tries to say again.

Pudding tells her, "No but's, Ichigo onee-chan. If you want to go to a festival, then go na no da! If it'll make you feel better, think of it as a step closer for us to become humans na no da. That way, next time, we can attend the festival with you, na no da."

"Pudding-chan," Lettuce says, "I don't know if that was encouragement or something else."

"It was encouragement!" Pudding declares, getting a bit angry that she was misunderstood.

"But there's a problem," Ichigo says, getting her words right.

Pudding and Lettuce ask, "What?"

Going back to her scrapbook, Ichigo flips to the older pagers until she goes to one particular one. "I can't go because of my master, Deep Blue." She shows them a portrait drawing of him.

Hearing that made Pudding and Lettuce feel like they just missed the big issue of the problem. Zakuro just sighed in small irritation.

"W-Well," Lettuce starts, "wh-when he said you're forbidden to ever leave the church towers, d-did he mean…_ever_ ever?"

"Never ever," she corrects. "And he hates the Feast of Fools. I don't even want to imagine how furious he'll be if I ask him to go."

Then Pudding gets an idea. "Who says you have to ask, na no da? You can sneak out and then sneak back in, na no da. He'll never know you were gone, na no da!"

Ichigo's tail goes straight up and puffy when she heard that. "I-I-I can't do that!"

"It's just one afternoon, na no da? Where's the harm, na no da?"

"W-Wh…What if I get caught?"

"Better to ask forgiveness than permission," Zakuro tells her, there being some truth in it.

"But what if he sees me?"

"Then you wear a disguise, na no da! It can be like…a costume over a costume, na no da! What Deep Blue doesn't know, won't hurt you, na no da!"

Ichigo still looks like she's freaking out so to help calm her, Lettuce grasps her hand and coos, "We've been spectators for a very long time and it is not something humans should do. You'll only end up watching your life go by without you. So you should go. No one wants to be coop up here forever."

Her word help Ichigo calm her nerves and seeing the encouraging looks on everyone's faces, how can she possibly say no?

"You're right. I'll go!"

All three angels smile when they hear that, in their own way.

"That's the spirit, na no da!"

Ichigo walks pass them for a moment before turning around and exclaims as she walks backwards, "Oh my gosh, this…this is a big event! I should get clean up! Then I'll walk down those stairs and march through the doors! Then-"

Then her back runs into something that does not feel like a wooden pillar.

"Good morning, Ichigo."

Ichigo jumps away from what, or rather whom, she ran into and she sees the master himself. Judge Deep Blue in all his terrifying glory with a basket in his hand and his light blue eyes striking absolute fear into the young girl's heart when she sees him. Those eyes show no warmth or kindness. They're cold and they're cruel; always had been. Poor Ichigo took several steps back, gasping when she sees him. Mostly in fear if he heard what she said but Deep Blue has always been able to sneak up behind her without making a single sound. Just like a shadow.

Ichigo tries to answer him. "Good m-morning, master." She keeps her eyes low and mentally slaps herself for the stutter.

"My dear girl, whomever were you just talking to?" he asks, looking around the room for any 'unexpecting' company. But all he sees are the statues of angels.

Knowing full well that the angels have reverted back to their original state, and original positions Ichigo rubs her arm in her insecurity and replies, "M-My friends…"

Deep Blue's hand touches the top of her head and Ichigo did everything she could not to shiver at the touch. Just like his eyes, his hand is like icy; no matter what. "And what are your friends made of?"

"S-Stone."

The hand traces its fingers tips down Ichigo's cheek and then under her chin. Deep Blue forces her to look up and he smiles, "Can stone talk?"

Nothing. Absolutely nothing about him is warm. Just bitter cold.

"No, it can't," she responds.

A pleased glint appears in his eyes as Deep Blue pats Ichigo's cheeks. "Aren't you a smart little cat?" He walks pass her towards her studio area where there's a small square table with two chairs next to it – their usual eating area. Deep Blue places the basket on top of the table and then sits down, his back straight and dignified like the man of power he is. "Now then, lunch."

Hastily, not to make him wait, Ichigo rushes over to the opposite corner where those shelves are and grabs what she needs for them – two cups and two plates, one set fancy made with silver and the other carved out of wood. Returning to the table, Ichigo presents her master his usual setting, the fancy metal one as she gets the wooden one. Then she sits down, waiting for Deep Blue to present their meal from the basket.

He takes out the wine first. "That's a lovely charcoal drawing, Ichigo," he compliments, as he pours them both a cup. She turns around to the drawing of him that he's mentioning. "You're becoming very good at it."

Facing him again, she replies, "Thank you, master." That's actually the first compliment she's had in a while. If that scrapbook was showing her drawing of the festival, he probably wouldn't have said anything.

"Shall we review your alphabet today, Ichigo?" he asks, taking out a book now.

Taking a deep breath first to calm her nerves, she replies, "Yes, please. I would like that very much."

"Very well, then. A?"

"Abomination."

"B?"

"Blasphemy."

"C?" Deep Blue picks up his cup.

"Contrition."

"D?"

"Damnation."

"E?"

"Eternal damnation."

"Good. F?" He brings the cup to his lips.

"Festival."

_Pfft!_

And he ends up choking on his drink. Ichigo flinches from the sound, knowing what she's accidently done, and daring to look, Deep Blue already has a napkin wiping his mouth.

"Repeat that," he commands. Oh god, she's in trouble…

"F-Forgiveness, master."

"That's not what you said." Deep Blue shuts the book and Ichigo flinches from that sound too. "It was 'festival'."

Ichigo starts to panic. "N-No, I…"

"Ichigo, you weren't thinking of going to the festival, were you?" His sharp eyes pierce through her again and the poor girl ends up shivering where she sits. When her eyes downcast to the side and her ears flatten against her head, that answers his question. "You know you're forbidden."

"B-But…" She needs to make her case! Maybe he'll understand. Either way, it's no longer a secret and she still really wants to go. "Y-You get to go every year and I thought-"

"I am a public official," he interrupts her. "I have no choice, and I don't enjoy a moment of it. Thieves and cutpurses, the very dregs of humankind all mixed together in a shallow, drunken stupor – along with that parasitic cyniclon race."

Ichigo knows she made her master upset. She knows of his hatred against cyniclons and the humans who follow them, so she does the only thing she could think of – apologizing. "I-I'm sorry, master. I didn't mean to upset you."

She still refuses to look at him, too ashamed to. Deep Blue analyzes her up and down before letting out a quiet sigh. Standing up, he commands, "Ichigo, follow me." Seeing him walking away, Ichigo only obeys. They remain silent as he leads her down the steps from Ichigo's living space and then down the hallway towards a door. They walk in the opposite direction Ichigo came in the first time and so when walking outside, it's at a different part of the cathedral. There, they can have a vast view of the city of Paris.

"Ichigo, tell me. What do you see out there?" Deep Blue asks, looking out into the world.

Standing beside him, Ichigo looks and responds, "The city, master."

"Try and see the bigger picture. It's a cruel and wicked world out there, Ichigo. It can never accept someone like you – a demon incarnated. Take your heartless mother, for example. When she abandoned you as a child, anyone would have drowned you. Is your disobedience my thanks for taking you in and raising you as my daughter?"

"N-No, sir. I-I'm sorry." Ichigo fidgets with the end of her shirt when she replied, and she feels really disgraceful in her master's presence right now.

Then she feels his hand on her face again. It cups her cheek and makes her look up at him again. Caressing her cheek with his thumb, Deep Blue tells her gently, "You are precious to me and I am your only friend, Ichigo. I feed you, teach you, dress you, and only I can look upon you without fear. My only wish is to protect you, my dear little cat. But how can I do that unless you stay inside the cathedral?" He walks pass her again, back inside and Ichigo only follows like the faithful kitten she is. "Remember what I taught you, Ichigo. You are a deformed and terrifying demon that will only receive resentment and disgust everywhere you go."

"You are my one defender, Master Deep Blue," she adds.

"Yes," he says, pleased to hear it. Arriving at the steps, he waits till Ichigo is by his side and then he places his hand on her shoulder to lead her up. "The people of this world will only hate, scorn and jeer you. So why invite their calumny and consternation? If you wish to avoid such things, then do as I say and stay in here."

Releasing her shoulder, Deep Blue walks towards the table and picks up his book. "I must go. A relative of mine is coming into town and I must be…a gracious host during her stay."

Ichigo's ears perk up when she hears that. A relative of her master, so maybe… "Will you bring her here?" she asks, a little too excited. He sharply turned to her when he detected that and quickly, she shys back; hoping that she didn't upset him again. For all she knows, she probably did.

Deep Blue stares at her for a long moment. He walks back to the stairs where she is, leaving the basket behind, and pets the side of Ichigo's face again, raising a few strands of her hair. "Stay in here and I'll think about it. If she has an understanding soul like I do, then meeting you won't ruin her stay." He walks down the stairs to leave.

"U-Uh, master!" Ichigo quickly calls before he does leave. He stops momentarily, waiting for whatever it is she wants to say. "Y-You've always been really good to me. P-Please forgive me."

"You are forgiven." Then he reminds again, "But remember, Ichigo. This is your sanctuary." Deep Blue finally leaves after a faint, wicked grin is shown on his face.

"My sanctuary…"

Then a hand is pressed on Ichigo's shoulder. She turns around and she sees the three angels come to life again, Zakuro's hand being the one on her shoulder. All three of them give her an encouraging smile and soon, it made her smile as well.

"But it's just one afternoon," she says. She walks to the mini wooden buildings and continues to say, "All my life I've watched the people down below. Knowing who they are as they will never know me. So just one day, what would it be like to walk among them? To be a part of them."

"You never know until you try, na no da!" Pudding cheers.

Turning back to them, Ichigo smiles more brightly than she did before. "You know, I've watched these people shout and scold and go about their lives when they have no idea of the gift it is to be them. If it was me, I know I would treasure every moment of every day. Just one day…and I swear I'll forever be content. I won't resent. I won't despair. Even when I'm old and bent, I won't care!"

Then Ichigo leaps up to one of the wooden pillars above and starts climbing them. The three angels look up to where she's going but when they can no longer see her, they leave Ichigo's room and quickly run back outside. They look up and they see the cat girl effortlessly climbing up to the top. Leaping from one pillar to another, grabbing any opening she could, and gripping onto gargoyles or any sort of statues to reach the very top of the cathedral. On the top is the cross and Ichigo holds onto that as she looks out at the city of Paris.

What Deep Blue said about the world being cruel and wicked, he couldn't possibly mean everything. Because the only things Ichigo can see is beauty and freedom. With the wind blowing through her hair and clothes, Ichigo relishes in the breeze. The smell of Pairs, the feel of the morning sun on her skin, the sounds of people talking and working, and the faint taste of the bread cooking from the bakery miles away. She can't actually taste it but the smell definitely helps her imagine it.

She thinks to herself, _'I'll have spent one day out there. God, that's all I wish for.'_


	3. Deep Blue's Niece

**A/N: Hello, everyone. Just a quick note, I have decided that I am going to put My Promise to Keep on pause. Mostly because I have reached a cross-road and I have no idea which road to take. I don't know how long this writer's block is going to last so I've decided to let out my other parody idea – TMM Pirates of the Caribbean. It's probably my fault since I mentioned it and I felt this itching need to write it. Oh well.**

**Anyway, just want to let you all know that and be on the look out! Though honestly, I'm going to publish it right after I publish this one. I hope you enjoy that story and this chapter. Thank you!**

* * *

Ch. 3: Deep Blue's Niece

Down in the city of Paris, a wondering woman sits on her white horse with her nose right in the map. She is not paying attention to where her horse is trotting around but she can trust him to be smart enough to not bump into anybody or anything. It really is an interesting sight but not enough so for people to be staring.

"Whoa, Masha." Hearing her command, the horse stops and the woman finally lowers the map to see where exactly they are – and comparing it to where she think she is on the map.

With the map out of her face, that is when people start to stare for she is a very attractive woman. A lovely, fair skin complexion that appears flawless, big doll-like brown eyes that shine with class and at the moment calculation, and stunning blue midnight hair that's tied into two buns on her head. She appears to be on the short petite side, but what's really fascinating is her outfit. For someone who has the face of an elite aristocrat, she would be expected to wear a fancy dress and riding inside a carriage with servants accompanying her rather than her side saddling a horse. What she's wearing instead is a white, wide-collar peasant top with frilly open sleeves before her elbows, a dark blue vest over it, long grey blue pants, a black belt with a well-crafted fencing sword attached, and black heeled boots. Instead of a looking like an aristocratic lady, Mint looks like an aristocratic warrior.

And she's lost.

Irritated, she crunches up the map and tosses it over her shoulder. "Useless. Completely and utterly useless. I swear, you leave for a few years and they change everything," Mint groans to her horse. She sighs, crosses her leg over the other, leans her elbow on her upper leg, and finally leans her chin on the palm of her hand, thinking about what to do now.

Then her horse neighs to get her attention. Mint looks at him and he motions his head to the side. Looking, she sees a couple of soldiers coming her way. Perfect!

"Halt, soldiers!" she calls before jumping off her horse. But they just continue to walk on. "Pardon me, but I'm looking for the Palace of Justice. Could you-" and they still continue to walk on. Mint stops herself as she can see them sneering and snickering. "Guess not. Rude!" With another sigh, Mint grabs the reins of her horse and says, "Might as well just walk. I'm tired of sitting. Maybe we'll find some soldiers that actually know some manners." She starts walking and pulls her traveling companion along. Then it didn't take very long for her to start hearing music and the sound of children's laughter.

A few ways up ahead, there is a man playing the flute and two other people dancing with a small group of children. A mother and a child pass them first and seeing the other kids like her having fun with these dancing people, she pointed at them and wanted to join them. However, her mother sharply pulls her back and warns, "Stay away, child. They're gypsies! They'll steal us blind." Then she continues to pull her child along, making sure not to make eye-contact with the gypsies. She also muttered on what sort of parents would allow their young ones to associate with them without supervision. They heard her and they didn't care, and if she had looked closely that woman would have noticed that the children are street urchins.

They have no parents to watch over them.

Mint comes up into view to see the little street entertainment and she spares the moment to watch. The one playing the flute doesn't show much of what he looks like. He actually just looks like a pile of clothes the way he's all bundled up in the corner with his coat, scarf, hat, and gloves on. However, his long, elf-like ears are pointing out from that pile. So he's a cyniclon, and he's blissfully plays his happy tune for the dancing duo. It's a man and a woman, and while the woman is dancing with little male children surrounding her, the man is waltzing with the girls – or attempt waltzing since they're so small. The woman catches Mint's attention first since she's near the musical pile of clothes. She's a very pretty woman with long coal black hair, skin as pale and soft-looking as the faint glow of the moon, a face as cheerful as the children she's dancing with, normal round ears so she's probably human, and she has golden amber eyes expressing the joy she feels dancing around. Although despite her loveliness, Mint is watching her steps.

'_Hmm…not too bad. At least she's light on her feet,'_ she thinks, critiquing the gypsy. But seeing the smiling children and how they're enjoying this, Mint can't be too hard on her. So she goes to her pocket for her purse and takes out a few coins. There is a purple hat on the ground and it's half full of money. She adds in her share and the dancing duo notices her.

"We thank you kindly for your generous donation." Mint looks up and the dancing man is presenting his hand to her with a bow.

To her, any guy can be taller than her but this man is most certainly tall. He has the same colored hair as the woman, except it's short. But comparing him to the woman, he's almost the exact opposite in looks. Dark tan skin to indicate that he goes out a lot, on the buff side with lines of muscle visible on his arms and neck, honey brown eyes, and a dazzling friendly smile. Only by the small, round human ears and the coal black hair are the man and the woman the same.

He asks her, "May I interest you in a dance as a show of my thanks?" Hearing such an offer made Mint grin.

"Since you asked so nicely, I suppose I can spare a few minutes," she teases, giving him her hand. He nods in thanks and then he twirls her after leading her away from her horse.

Mint lets him lead and the two dance with her steps professionally following his. The children the man was dancing with before stand to the side and they gawk and are in awed at how the two of them dance. The gypsy woman is also watching them in amazement of them dancing. Well quite frankly, she's surprise that he asked Mint to dance in the first place. But she has to admit, they're rather good.

After twirling her again, the man dips Mint and the short woman couldn't stop the giggles from escaping her lips. She's enjoying herself but when she looks up at her dancing partner, something…startles her. Looking into the man's eyes, he's smiling but they're not. There is a certain glint in them that confuses her.

"Monsieur, you're smiling but what sad eyes you have instead."

The man above her did not expect her to say that. A blank look appears on his face and all he could manage is a, "Huh?"

_Whistle_

The attention is turned up and on top of a stone wall is a boy of twelve with elf-like ears. He uses his fingers to show and mouths the number 'two' before leaping off the wall to run. Seeing him became like a red alert alarm and the gypsies immediately go into action. The man helped Mint stand up straight while the woman turns to the children.

"Kids, listen. Show's over but go with my friend here and he'll take you some place to get food," she tells them, her voice a bit unusual.

One kid quickly asks, "Will you still perform later?"

"At the festival, yes. Now go, go!" She motions the kids to the flute player and he stood up from his pile-of-clothes position. Once all of them gathered, the air around them ripples and then they all disappeared.

'_Teleportation!'_ Mint recognizes as the dancing man rushes to the hat full of their money.

A few coins drop when he suddenly grabbed it but now is not the time. He grabs the gypsy woman's hand and yells, "Kisshu, hurry!"

The woman, or Kisshu, nods and the man pulls her away to run but they stop suddenly before they crashed into the two guards that have arrived before them. Mint recognizes them. They were the rude soldiers who passed her.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" the one of them asks the two dancers. Both of them look prepared to fight if they have too as the other guard goes behind them.

"If it isn't Masaya and Kisshu, the thieving siblings? What's in the hat?" he asks.

The man, or Masaya, answers, "Our earnings, my good guard," trying to be polite.

The guard before them says, "Earnings? Ha! You stole that money, I presume."

Kisshu asks, "And I presume that you know all about stealing, huh?" Then her wrist is grabbed tightly by the guard and he pulled her away from her brother. Feeling her being pulled back, the man turns around to see the guard grabbing his sister.

"Maybe a visit to the Palace of Justice will calm you down."

Kisshu then does a high kick and hits the guard's chin as she yells, "Get your fricken hands off of me!"

From the corner of his eyes, Masaya sees the other guard ready to grab his sister so he does a back kick right in the guards gut. As the guards are distracted with pain, Masaya grabs Kisshu's hand again and pulls her to get away. They run away, pass Mint and she watches them go, not trying to stop them. When she watches them run however, Masaya takes a moment to look at her before completely passing her.

"Stop them!" one of the guards yells.

Mint looks back at them and she sees them getting up, ready to chase after the two siblings. Right when they're going to run, Mint reaches to grab the reigns of her house and pulls him in front of the guards.

_Crash_

The two guards crash into the horse and hit the ground. One guard lands behind the horse and that gives Mint an idea. Hearing the crash, Masaya, Kisshu, and some of the villagers turn around to see Mint order, "Masha, sit." As ordered, Masha sits down like a dog on top of the guard. The villagers start laughing when they see this and both Masaya and Kisshu smile when they see this bit of help. When the guard grunts, Mint acts like she just notices the guard. "Oh, I am so sorry," she says. She looks at her hose and acts, "Bad horse. You have done a bad thing." She looks back at the guard and says, "Please forgive him. I just can't take him anywhere, can I?"

Kisshu snickers at this before Masaya pulls her away again to escape.

The unfortunate guard cries, "Get this thing off me!" His partner growls at the intruder who dared to intervene. With the siblings gone, someone has to pay the price.

He takes out a dagger and snarls, "You'll pay for this, peasant! Don't think I'll go easy on you because you're a woman."

"Well I'm not just a woman." Going to the collar of her shirt, Mint searches for something inside and then she takes out a necklace with a family crest on it – a crest the soldier instantly recognizes. "I'm Mint Aizawa, and I'm your dear Judge's niece, lieutenant." Almost everyone listening gasps in surprise of what she said. Except for the soldiers because they start panicking.

"O-Oh, ah, my lady!" the guard with the dagger stutters, his attitude doing a 180. He quickly bows to her but sees the weapon in his hand and then tosses it aside. "P-Please accept my humblest apologies!"

Tucking the necklace back under her shirt, Mint teases, "Maybe, if you both lead me to the Palace of Justice. I'm so terribly late to meet my uncle. Wouldn't want to tell him that I was held up because a couple of lieutenants wouldn't give me directions." Oh, she got them sweating with that one.

"G-G-Give you directions?" the guard under the horse laughs nervously. "Hahaha, m-my merciful lady, we'll personally escort you to the Palace of Justice!"

The other guard agrees, "Y-Yes, absolutely!"

"Oh how very kind of you," Mint compliments, with a victory smile.

After getting her horse off the guard, the two soldiers practically made a parade of Mint's coming. They shouted for the people to make way and to make sure no one stepped within three feet of her. As protocol as this probably was, or just them sucking up to her so she would say something nice, Mint wasn't entirely enjoying this. Watching them make complete fools of themselves, yes. But making a big deal out of it, it can only last for so long. Mint is back to riding sidely on Masha's back but then she notices something shiny on the floor. She tells her horse to stop and then jumps off for a better look at a couple of golden coins.

Picking up the golden coins, Mint stares at them for a moment before around, half expecting to see the two dancers from before. But instead, she sees two cloaked people huddled together, one of them playing the female role as she leans against her companions shoulder. Mint didn't have to guess where the coins came from. As she walks up to the homeless couple, she drops the coins in the hat before them.

When she completely passes them, the two people look up, allowing their faces to be revealed in the light. It's Kisshu and Masaya but the one leaning on the shoulder was Masaya and Kisshu was the one offering her brother her shoulder. They look up and stare curiously as Mint continues to follow the two guards to the Palace of Justice. She's different.

* * *

Apparently Mint wasn't as lost as she thought she was. The two guards didn't lead her to the Palace of Justice for very long. In fact, a few more blocks straight and then a left and she would have found the place herself. Definitely wouldn't have been hard. The Palace of Justice is grand like medieval castle with multiple tall towers, made from dark grey stones and jade green ceiling pads. Now maybe if the building was a little bit more taller than the peasant houses, Mint wouldn't have gotten lost finding it.

'_Not only dreary on the outside but dreary on the inside, too,'_ she describes being lead through the halls of her uncle's home by the same two dolts. Almost every hallway Mint's walked through is dark with only the light of a candle to help illuminate anything. All the curtains are drawn and there are hardly any servants working around. Dark and isolated, wonderful. Now in order to see her uncle, Mint has to be lead underground where the decorated walls have all turned cement blocked and torches light the halls. Basically, she has to go down the dungeon to see Deep Blue. _'If memory serves, I'd say I just walked into Deep Blue's dream home.'_

_Whip, whip, whip_

"I believe I told you to wait between the lashes, or the old stings will dull him to the new."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

Mint sees her two escorts suddenly straightening up before they both greet, "Sir!"

"What is it?" she hears Deep Blue ask.

"Your niece has arrived, my lord," one guard answers.

Then the other butters up, "We made sure no harm came to her accompanying her. No filthy gypsy or cyniclon came within five yards of us to ruin her view of the city you've so valiantly protected, my lord."

Mint rolls her eyes at this before pushing them to the side. "Do get over yourselves, you morons. You're only embarrassing yourselves." She stands in front of them and now that she has Deep Blue within her sights, she greets with a grin. "Good morning, Uncle Deep Blue."

"Morning," he greets back, his face revealing nothing. Not pleased to see her or annoyed to see her. He turns back to his torturing man and the masked guy bows to his lord before returning to the cell. "You're late."

"Forgive me but I got lost with a defective map. Also, a couple of your soldiers didn't want to help me at first but these two were kind enough." She didn't have to look behind to know that the lieutenants behind her just flinched and are probably sweating where they stood. Mint tried very hard not to look too pleased with herself.

"Is that so?" His sharp eyes look at the two soldiers and Mint is pretty sure they're probably ready to pee their armored pants. "You two are excused."

"Yes, sir!" And they go running off like the wind. Now Mint is having a hard time to not snicker too loud. She sees Deep Blue turning around to walk further down the hallway and she got the message to follow him.

"So enlighten me. Why have you come to visit?" he asks, as they walk.

"I believe you made a request." That pauses their steps and causes Deep Blue to turn to her with a slight raised brow. Mint took the moment to go to her pants pocket and take out a latter. She gives it to him and Deep Blue didn't have to open it to know that it's his and what its contents are. "You wanted a headstrong captain to whip your men into shape since your last captain was a…disappointment, you said."

_Crack_

A whip goes off right after that and the two of them hear a man screaming back at that cell where they were standing in before. So that's what happened to the captain…

Acting like he didn't hear anything, Deep Blue looks at his niece suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at the thought that came to him. "Father sent you? A woman?"

Mint corrects, "Grandfather actually passed the job to my father and father strongly believes that I am your best _man_ for the job. I trained his new recruits back home before they go off to war, and I am the best swordsman in the country."

"We shall see, I suppose. So then your stay will not be a temporary one?" He passes the letter back to her.

Mint takes it and replaces it back in her pocket. "Unless you find someone better but quite frankly, I doubt it."

"You're very overly confident."

"It runs in the family. Grandfather also wanted me to pass on a message. He wonders if you're still taking your daily medication or if he needs to send you more."

The hand at Deep Blue's side flinches. He takes a long moment to answer her. "I'll send a letter myself, answering that." He turns back forward to continue the stroll and Mint follows him again, wondering slightly why he took so long to answer. "Times must have changed for your grandfather to agree to your coming. Or maybe he's just getting old." They arrive at a spiral set of stairs and climb up.

"I can tell you all about my accomplishments and brag about my service record if it'll help you feel better, uncle."

"Save it. If father deems you worthy, then I have no right to question your capability."

The two of them reach a door in no time and Deep Blue exits outside into an open hallway for the two of them to have a view of the city and Notre Dame. Halfway down the hallway, Mint says, "Such a shame. However I will ask that in your letter, you asked for a soldier that were required to have some pretty specific qualities. Why ask for one instead of promoting anyone you have here?"

Deep Blue ceases his steps as he replies, "Call it that none of them passed the audition to be promoted. I needed someone with a strong will and a firm hand to save the weak-minded from being so easily misled. This is Paris's darkest hour and I did not have time to train somebody either."

"Misled, uncle?" Mint asks curiously.

Deep Blue faces her and answers, "By the gypsies and the cyniclons. Their kind live outside the normal order. Their heathen ways inflame the people's lowest instincts, and more and more humans become accepting of their culture. Some have even joined them and that percentage has risen by ten percent compared to last year. They must be stopped."

Raising a hand to pause him, Mint asks, "Please let me get this straight. You wanted grandfather to summon a captain from the wars to arrest palm readers and fortunetellers? If I was him, I would have been insulted that you wanted to waste my time doing that."

"Then it must be a good thing I've been delivered you, instead. A woman who has no business in this sort of affair."

Mint couldn't help but think, _'Racist, sexist, and blindly obedient. You were definitely raised and brainwashed by grandfather.'_

Turning to the rail, Deep Blue sees a few ants scurrying around the surface and noticing the cement under it, he can already tell. "This is the real war, Mint. For 20 years, I have been taking care of the gypsies and cyniclons, one…"he squashes one ant, "by…" he squashes the other and then the last one when he finishes, "…one. And yet for all my success," he grabs the slab and pulls it up to reveal a hundred more ants, "they have thrived." Deep Blue had expected Mint to scream when she sees the crawling insects, but she doesn't. "I believe they have a safe haven within the walls of this very city. A sort of nest that they call The Court of Miracles."

"Is this a different one?" Mint asks. "I was told you found the safe haven and demolished it 20 years ago. It was your greatest success that grandfather so proudly boasted about."

"They made a new one," he tells her. "And that is why their numbers have irritatingly returned back to size." Without a warning, he slams the slab back in its place but upside down so that it may crush the ants underneath. The frustration blazes in Deep Blue's eyes when he did that and Mint didn't flinch.

"You make your plans of action quite vividly, uncle."

Regaining his posture like the lord of the castle that he is, Deep Blue looks down at the shorter woman and says, "If you wish to brag as the warrior you said you are, I expect no disappointment from you, my dear niece."

Mint bows to the Judge and replies, "None, sir."

Then the two of them hear music blaring from the city. Mint stands back up to look in the direction from where it's coming from as Deep Blue is trying not to look to 'thrilled' about that noise. Duty calls.

"Tell me, have you ever attended a peasant festival, Mint?"

The word 'festival' rings a bell in Mint's head. "A few, but not recently."

"Then allow me to show you one hosted here for a new experience. There's probably not much difference to what you've seen but you will not be asked to be on duty until afterwards."

"I shall accept your kindness then." She nods to him again to show her gratitude.

"Com along, then." Deep Blue turns around to leave and Mint follows, again. Then thinking about it for a minute, Mint remembers where she heard 'festival' today.

"_**Will you still perform later?"**_

"_**At the festival, yes. Now go, go!"**_

'_The dancing sister and the children. Then I'll be able to see those two again and maybe this time, that brother can answer my question.'_


	4. Topsy Turvy Day

Ch. 4: Topsy Turvy Day

Ichigo couldn't believe that she's actually going to do this. Climbing down the stone pillar, she wears a hooded cloak to hide her ears and a red table cloth around her waist to be used as a dress skirt so she could hide her tail. With this disguise, she can blend in with the crowd perfectly – especially since women are supposed to wear dresses and long skirts instead of pants. But it is a little harder to move so she could climb down to the lowest balcony of the cathedral. After she lands her two feet on the floor, she looks over the edge to the festival down below. They just started and already there is such a huge crowd in Town Square. This is the closest she's ever been to the event and she's sure that the loud pounding of the drums is not what's vibrating her body right now.

'_Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, there are so many people! I've never seen so many up close before!'_ Ichigo squeals in her head in excitement. _'But not only that but the smells and the sound, there is so many and so much! I feel like my head is going to explode. Now, Ichigo. Just breathe. It doesn't look like master is here yet so, so long as you don't cause any attention to yourself then you can go back up to the bell towers before he sees you. Just stay calm.'_

That thought might be easier said than done the way she's going.

Then the nerves start to eat up on the cat girl. Maybe she really should just go back… But one look up to the bell towers and she sees her angel friends waving at her. Well, two of them are waving and Zakuro is nodding but all three of them are smiling encouragement for Ichigo to go. Seeing them cheering her on, now Ichigo really can't go back. She doesn't feel like it.

A stringer of colorful triangles is connected from the cathedral to a pole near the edge so to get a closer look of a parade that's coming, Ichigo leaps off and grabs a hold of the rope. No one sees her sliding to the poll and if anyone did, they just would have thought she's one of the trained acrobats for the festival. The parade isn't much. Just a couple of people dressed in black and maybe one or two acrobats and dancers who've walked around Paris, advertizing that the festival is today. They're just returning and once they arrive, then the festival will really begin.

Ichigo moves from one rope and grabs hold of the other. However, someone must not have tied it right because when she added her weight to it, the knot loosens and Ichigo goes Tarzan, like how she does for the bells.

'_Oh GOSH!'_ Ichigo goes swinging from that poll to, thankfully, the edge of the crowd for the parade people. Those who definitely saw her cheer louder for her trick. No master to have seen her, Ichigo is safe.

She lifts up her hood a little to see, since some of it slid in front of her eyes, and Ichigo finds herself right in front row of the parade people – right as two cyniclons jump high over everyone else and landed effortlessly on the stone floor after a few air-flips. She recognizes them easily.

"Come one, come all!" the older looking cyniclon yells to the crowd; with short purple hair that's longer in front of one elf-like ear and tied with a green bandage, pale-looking skin, and a darker shade of violet eyes.

The younger cyniclon, a teenage boy rather with flaming red hair tied into two pigtails and dark golden eyes, grins like the great sun above and yells to the crowd, "Leave your loops and milking stools! Coop the hens and pen the mules!"

"Come one, come all!" the purple-haired man yells again.

Then the young red head goes, "Close the churches and the schools because today is the one and only day of the year for breaking rules! The party that turns all of Paris upside down!"

"Come and join us…"

They both announce, "FOR THE FEAST OF FOOLS!"

Taruto and Pai; cyniclon brothers and the two people Pudding and Lettuce were talking about earlier this morning.

Then colorful confetti is thrown and the flags that were bundled together have been released to reveal their vibrant clothes. Everyone in the crowds cheer and Ichigo thought her eardrums were going to pop from their screaming – and this is the girl who deals with bells every day of her life. She had to cover her ears over her hood just to make sure they wouldn't. Then just on instinct, Ichigo gets up and tries to find to nearest cover.

Only problem: where can she take cover?!

First, Ichigo almost runs into a band playing instruments. Then she sees people with giant looking masks starting to walk around and everyone suddenly decides to break into a dance, with or without partners. As long as they had their arms up in the air or were clapping, that's fine but Ichigo is starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

'_Oh man…I think I'm turning claustrophobic!'_ Ichigo assumes, which is very understandable for her.

In the mean time, the two festival MCs leap up again and they do acrobatic tricks to land on the big main stage of the entire festival – which was a yard away from where they were standing before. Pai, the least looking enthusiastic MC Ichigo has ever observed, announces, "Ladies and gentlemen, we welcome you all to our festival!"

Then Taruto, the most enthusiastic one, adds, "Today is the sixth of January and you all know what that means. It's…"

"TOPSY TURVY DAY!" he lets the audience scream. Then the two of them just go back and forth.

"The day when every man is a king and every king is a clown."

"The day when the devil in us gets released."

"The day we mock the prig and shock the priest."

"Where gross is gold and weeds are a bouquet!"

"So beat the drums and blow the trumpets!"

"Join the bums and thieves and strumpets, streaming in from Chartres to Calais!"

"Scurvy knaves are extra scurvy on this one day, at this one event."

Then finally together, "Where everything is Topsy Turvy at the Feast of Fools!"

The crowds wildly cheer again and thunderously clap while the two cyniclons bow. This time, Ichigo joins the crowd. She has always observed those two from above, using that same speech in that same order every year, and they still fascinate her. Because Pai is still the most unlikely person to yell at the audience like that and Taruto just has so much energy to make up for it, but he's a kid. Pai's old enough to be doing this, unlike him. Guess that makes them the perfect duo. They both have something the other lacks.

Then crowd scatters, like mice going to the most appealing cheese – that being the booths of food and entertainment that first caught their eyes. Children go to things like the puppet shows, most of the men go for the beer and wine, women go to merchandises stands, and those with masks and outfits are just everywhere. Some of them are just everywhere because as the crowd moved, Ichigo felt like she's being swept away into whatever direction the current she's caught in moves. In one direction, she sees dogs standing on two legs and 'walking' humans who are on all fours. Then in another, there is a man in the center of two connected horse behinds and holding arrows that go in opposite directions(which is probably going to be the weirdest thing she'll see here). Then there is a man dressed like a red lobster carrying a pot of water with the cook inside. Then there is another weird outfit after another but Ichigo finally can't see straight. She's been spinning round and round because of the crowds and once she was finally out of it, her eyes are going spiral and she's heading for a tent.

By the time she got her bearings, shook her head to get her senses back, Ichigo still felt a little dizzy and steps on her table cloth skirt. It unties from the pull but not before causing her to trip and fall.

"Eeyaa!"

Ichigo crashes right into a tent in front of Masaya, causing him to lower his cup of tea. As she continues to fall, she tries to grab on to something to save her. All she could get was a wall of clothe but not even that stopped her. It only rips then falls on top of her as she hits the ground. In alarm, Kisshu quickly grabs her robe that was draping on her shoulders and brings it up to cover herself. She asks, "Who's there?!"

While staying under the protection of the sheet on top of her, Ichigo quickly does the one thing she knows how to do in this sort of situation; apologize as quickly as she can. "I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry! I didn't mean to trip inside."

Hearing her voice, Masaya puts his cup on the table and Kisshu takes a step towards the lump in the middle of their tent under a drape. "Is that a girl?" she asks, now approaching it. Masaya watches as Kisshu kneels down besides Ichigo and grabs the drape. It was a bit of a surprise for the both of them because the moment she lifted up the drape, both of their faces were right in front of the other. Ichigo didn't expect to see her face as Kisshu didn't expect to see cat like eyes staring right at her.

"AHH!" they both scream in surprise before getting up and running to safety. Ichigo saw a desk not too far and decides to hide under there as Kisshu goes to the tent wall and uses it to hide in. Ichigo is shivering in fear as Kisshu is trying to calm down her fast pacing heart.

Then they hear laughter.

Being confused, they both stick their heads out and they see Masaya laughing with his arms wrapped around his stomach. Ichigo is surprised to see that reaction as Kisshu looks confused. Masaya calms down a moment and wipes away the tears from his eyes. "You two…" he tries to say, "were exactly the same!" Then he bursts out laughing again and Kisshu steps completely out of her hide away.

She goes to her brother and tells him, "You keep laughing like that and your death will come sooner than you want it to." Then she turns her attention to Ichigo. She tries to hide again when Kisshu looks at her. She didn't seem to mind. She only smiles and compliments, "You know, she's actually really cute." Ichigo peeks out a bit in surprise and confusion as Masaya finally calms down his laughter. He looks at Ichigo and walks towards her.

Ichigo shies away at first but Masaya only kneels down in front of her and pets her head as if she really is a cat, which she is but he doesn't know that. "She's very cute," he agrees. Ichigo's cheeks turn red from Masaya's warm touch. As he smiles at her, his smile is dazzling and beautiful. He asks her, "Are you alright?"

All Ichigo could do is nod. Before she knew it, Kisshu is kneeling down besides her as well. She grabs her arm and helps her up. Then she grasps her hand and lifts it up. Compared to Masaya's touch, Kisshu's touch is cold but it has a certain warmth to it that instantly calms her down, a bit. "Sorry about scaring you like that. You just surprised me. Your costume is really amazing." Before Ichigo could speak, Kisshu looks at her hand and she leans close to it as if she was going to kiss it. That greatly surprises Ichigo.

_Cough_

Kisshu stops and looks up at Masaya as Ichigo does the same. All they see Masaya do is look to the side and he twirls his short hair with his fingers. Ichigo is confused as Kisshu looks down at her long strands that's hanging on the side of her face and she gets the message. She's also annoyed by it. Lifting up her other hand, she pats Ichigo's hand to get back her attention. "Not to be rude," she says, "but we need to get ready for our act. You'll watch us on the main stage, right?"

Ichigo doesn't understand what just happened but she answers, "Y-Yes, I would love to." Hearing her voice brings a satisfied smile to appear on Kisshu's face.

"You have a very lovely voice, miss. What's your name?"

"I-Ichigo."

"And a lovely voice is accompanied with a beautiful name."

The way that she's looking at Ichigo is kind of freaking Ichigo out. Why does it look like this girl before her is hitting on her or is she just being friendly – _really_ friendly?

Soon Ichigo feels a hand press against her back. She looks up to see Masaya leading her to the exit as Kisshu's hands slide off of hers. "Just be a little bit more careful, Ms. Ichigo. The festival is crazy this year."

Ichigo tries to smile as she says, "I-I know." Masaya only puts on a sweet smile on his face as he lifts the tent door up. Ichigo steps up and turns around to face the two kind people.

Kisshu waves and tells her, "See you soon, kitty cat!"

"Oh and Ms. Ichigo," Masaya calls, getting her attention. "Your costume truly is magnificent." Then he closes the tent door. Ichigo could only have a dreamy moment as she stares at the door. That girl was weird but that boy was really nice.

_Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack_

_Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack_

Ichigo's ears twitch to that sound under her hood. There is only one reason to why she can hear so many horse hooves at a festival. Quickly hiding behind another tent, she peeks her head out and her suspicions are proven true.

'_It's master!'_ she freaks, her tail going straight up and puffing. She notices that right away and hurriedly pushes it down before anyone saw. That's also when Ichigo notices that she lost her skirt and looks around the area to where she lost it.

Despite his distaste to this event, Deep Blue certainly arrives at the festival in style. Traveling in his black carriage, that looks more like a prison carriage than anything, and being escorted by more than twenty soldiers. One of the soldiers, obviously someone of higher rank, directs the others to either continue forward, or go left or right to scatter amongst the crowd but stay near the Judge. The carriage arrives at a certain seat near the main stage of the festival with its own shade and boundaries to keep the lower people away. But unlike last year where there was only one seat, there are two and people soon saw why.

Once the carriage had stopped, a guard opened the door and Deep Blue is first to climb out. Instantly people scurry away but bow in his presence to show respect. He paid them no mind while he asks for Mint's hand to help her out like the gentleman he needs to be. People stare in wonder when they see his lady friend and some gawk at how pretty and young she looks – plus the way she's dressed. Mint's eyes scan in every direction to look at this festival and she is very pleased to what she's seeing. All of the bright colors, the smiling and happy faces of the citizens of Paris, and the delicious smells of various cooking. She'll definitely be visiting those booths soon. For now, Mint grasps her uncle's arm and they walk to their seats, together.

"Must you grab onto me?" Deep Blue asks, sounding a little annoyed this time.

She tells him, "If I am on a short vacation before work, then I will enjoy it to the fullest with my family." He says nothing to that but his attitude still gives off the 'do what you like' vibe.

As the two of them sit on their 'thrones' with the best seats to the main events of the festival, Ichigo has given up on her table cloth. She couldn't find it and it honestly doesn't surprise her that someone probably picked it up and added to their outfit. Well, one good thing is those two siblings think she's wearing a costume so maybe everyone else will to. Maybe if she takes off the hood, then people won't stare, but her master is here so can't test that theory.

In the mean time, Ichigo is roaming around near any booths closer to the main stage. So long as she stays on the outskirts of the festival, then she won't be swept away again. She goes slow, looking at one stand to the other and loving every moment of it. Everything is so much better than her imagination and when she goes back to her home, she'll definitely draw everything she sees. Maybe even carve out the festival, too!

Then with everything bewildering her and distracting her, Ichigo fails to notice Pai standing behind her and he yells, "Come one, come all!"

"Eep!" she yelps, nearly jumping three feet in the air. She definitely got Pai's attention when she jumped two.

While at Deep Blue's viewing spot, Taruto pokes his head out from the rail near Mint's side and she nearly jumps before laughing at his sudden appearance. "Hurry, hurry, here's your chance, my lords!" He bows to the two of them. "To see the mystery and romance~" Mint giggles some more and Deep Blue's mood just got worst.

"Come one, come all!" Pai calls again, and then he pushes confused Ichigo closer to the stage.

Taruto leaps up into the air again, still looking like he's flying. He lands on the stage and presents, "See the finest pair of dancers in all of France! Siblings, if you can believe." The crowd starts to gather back around the stage, Ichigo still being up close when Pai flips up and his hands land on the edge of the stage before landing his feet next to his partner. "A duo of talent you can only find right here in our festival!"

"Make an entrance to en_trance_!"

Then together, "The breath-taking Kisshu and her captivating brother, Masaya!"

Both cyniclons raise their fists up in the air and when they swung it down, green and blue smoke funnels consume them. Split second later, two people come out of that smoke and it's not Pai or Taruto. Masaya comes out of the blue smoke and Kisshu appears from the green. A magic trick that pleased almost everyone who saw and fascinated Ichigo, because it wasn't just a trick. Thanks to her eyes, she literally saw Pai and Taruto disappear in that smoke and get replaced by the siblings, who start dancing as soon as they're visible.

But it's not just that. Since the last time Ichigo saw them, they're both wearing different outfits – fancier outfits, and do they look stunning. Kisshu especially in her long, flowly green and blue dress that almost bared her shoulders but showed off her long skinny arms. Masaya gave off the image of a dashing prince from fairy tales with his similar colored suit, and Kisshu the beautiful princess with her slender limbs of grace. The two of them together moved like works of art; they're fluid, on point with each other, and so much trust between them. Ichigo honestly had never seen anything so magnificent, and Mint will only admit to herself that those two are not bad together – not bad at all. Her eyes followed Masaya's every movement and Ichigo kept staring at Kisshu.

However, she's not the only one.

Since the very moment she appeared, Kisshu captured Deep Blue's eyes immediately and he could not look away. Like the crowd, he has become enchanted by Kisshu's dance and beauty, but it's mostly thanks to her beauty that he still has that gapping expression. The shine of her flawless skin, the sun caught in her raven hair, and her golden amber eyes that enthrall any who look into them – so strong of her emotions and her will.

"Maria," he finds himself mumbling that name before he could stop it.

Then Masaya twirls Kisshu away from him and she continued to spin until she reaches the edge of the stage. Like how Pai did, she does a flip by landing her hands on the edge and pushing herself off to lands on the nearby food/beer tables. Her eyes focus on one direction and that's towards Judge Deep Blue's little shed. She leaps closer, pulling a see-through scarf from her chest and using that to dance with before she had leaped inside Deep Blue's shed and sat on his lap. Deep Blue could only lean away from this bold woman as Mint is trying to suppress laughter at the sight of her uncle's dumbstruck expression. Kisshu pulls the scarf over Deep Blue's head, around his neck, and leans a little closer to his face; her eyes now burning through his.

"Afternoon, judge. Enjoying the festival?" Kisshu greets. Before the man could answer, she quickly raises the scarf off his shoulders and then presses it against Deep Blue's eyes to force him back. She leaps off him and out of shed by the time Deep Blue grabbed the scarf and glared very menacingly at the gypsy woman who dared to push him and humiliate him as the people laugh. Mint really is having a hard time holding in her own laughter.

Kisshu goes back to her brother on stage and leaps into his arms. He lifts her up so she could jump up higher and when she comes falling down, she turns her body. Masaya catches her, his sister's back against his chest and the crowd cheers louder than before as they spin. They became near where Ichigo is when they stopped and with a hand on her lower waist, Kisshu leans back as far as she could until she almost makes a bridge with her body and Masaya leaning over her. Kisshu and Ichigo are face to face then and the dancer winks at her. Ichigo's first reaction became to hide her face away with her hood but she can't deny that her cheeks turned a deep red from the gesture. Kisshu smiled, very pleased with herself as Masaya lifts her back up.

Then for the great finale, Masaya lets Kisshu go off on her own again but she goes back to him and he catches her body again to spin. Kisshu moves her leg to wrap around him until she does a full turn around his body. Back to his front, he grabs her leg to hold it up. She leans back, straightening her arm over her head as he dips her and then, they both look up towards the audience with a smile right as the music for them ends. The crowd, mostly men, had gone crazy when Kisshu wrapped around Masaya like a snake and now they're cheering as loud as they can to their smiles, mostly the women to Masaya's dazzling teeth. Standing back up and holding hands, the siblings give a bow as golden coins are being tosses at them like a school of fish jumping out of the water.

Ichigo doesn't have any money so all she can do is clap as fast as she can, jumping up and down where she stood. Mint, on the other hand, does have money and she risks the chance to toss them a coin for their most amusing performance. Though when Deep Blue noticed at the corner of his eye, he turned to her with a glare and she looks the other way like she did nothing wrong.

Then suddenly Pai jumps up on stage with a broom and he starts sweeping the gold coins off to the backstage while Taruto jumps on to take over the role of announcer for a moment. "Now for the moment you've all be ready for! The event that'll make you laugh till your sides go sore!" Kisshu and Masaya still remain on stage.

Coming back from his short janitor job, Pai finishes, "Crowing the King of the Festival!" The crowd goes crazy again, as they all have been looking forward to this.

"So for all you ugly, fearsome folks in masks or costumes, this is your time to shine! Come up on stage and prepare your best horrible and scary face! The one with the most frightening appearance is the winner!"

"Because wh~y?"

The audience responds, "TOPSY TURVY DAY!"

Within moments, people with costumes started climbing onto the stage; some who were already heading to the stage during Taruto's speech. At least ten people had climbed up on stage and it looks like Kisshu and Masaya are going to be the show-_people_ for this.

A hand appears before Ichigo's face.

"Would you like to come up?" Masaya asks. His eyes are like a welcoming cup of hot chocolate after a winter storm and his smile is as dazzling as the sun. Ichigo could feel her heart picking up pace and before she realized what she was doing, she given him her hand and he helps hoist her up.

Then she feels someone undoing her cloak from behind.

Kisshu places her cloak on her arm and her hand goes under the cat girl's chin. "I'll be cheering for you, kitty cat." Then both siblings leave her and go to the opposite end of the line of contestants. Now Ichigo is noticing that she's really on stage and a lot of people are looking at her, whispering.

"Look at that girl at the end. Such a realistic costume."

"Indeed."

"Mama, I want a costume like that one!"

"Maybe, honey."

"The beer is amazing this year."

And other comments like that. Ichigo even hears Taruto muttering under his breath, "My face is going to freeze smiling after this festival is over." He's hiding behind Pai to say that and to rub his sore cheeks.

That same older cyniclon is also whispering while rubbing his throat, "I'm going to lose my voice again this year."

Kisshu softly asks his brother, spinning the crown on her finger "Why do I have to present them? I rather just kick them off."

He replies through unmoving lips, "Because everyone wants a pretty girl to present. You can still kick them off if you want."

"You lazy bum, making me do all the work!"

"Please do one then and I'll handle the rest."

It's amazing what she can hear now being in the center of all this.

Going to first contestant, Kisshu takes off the mask, presenting him with a smile, and the man uses his bottom lip to completely cover his top. The crowd booed to him; how was that ugly or frightening? Kisshu gives him the good 'kick off' the stage and waves goodbye while the man falls into a puddle of muddy water.

True to what he said, Masaya took off the next person's mask and contestant number two tries squishing both sides of his face. Is that supposed to be funny? The crowd didn't think so and he got the boot from the sister off – right on top of the first guy. Ichigo worries a little. If the crowd doesn't like her, will she be kicked off too?

Masaya bows to his sister, like saying 'after you,' and Kisshu gives him a short glare before taking off the costume of number three. Crowd didn't like him either when he made a face so Kisshu sends him off and Masaya presents the next one. The siblings do this pattern for everyone one and for every one of them, they got booted off the stage. It looks like picking a king might be a challenge. Then at last, it becomes Ichigo's turn. Masaya is in front of her and he grasps her ears and she can feel Kisshu's hands on her tail.

"Please pardon us, Ms. Ichigo." Then the siblings pull.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Ichigo cries. "Let go!" And without meaning too, her claws swing at them to get off and quickly they did. Everyone verbally gasps when she did that and how her 'costume' didn't come off. When she sees the shocked looks on the siblings' faces and what she almost did, she became horrified. "I-" And then she hears the whispers of the crowd.

"That's not a costume!"

"That's really her! Those ears…That tail!"

"Mommy, mommy, it's a cat!"

"She's a demon! Look at her eyes!"

"So the rumors are true…the bellringer from Notre Dame is a demon girl!"

While under Deep Blue's shed, as the judge was growing bored, Mint is just as startled and perplexed about this as the crowd. It's just not possible but how can she deny what's on stage in front of her? As for the judge, he's shock, too. Shocked to see Ichigo here, in the festival, when he told her not to. She disobeyed him and now, the entire city of Paris has seen her.

Ichigo looks at the people around her and the crowd is starting to back away from the stage in terror and fear. She can still hear them talking, about how she's a vicious monster and how she's the true child of Lucifer. It's just as her master said – they're scared of her and they're rejecting her. Without the cover of her hood, she covers her ears and her tail wraps around her leg. She wants to run but she can't move her body. She doesn't want to listen to them anymore but even with her ears pressed against her head, she can still hear them. She's shaking and she wants to cry.

"Now hold on, brother," Kisshu calls, loud enough for even the audience to hear.

All goes silent and the attention goes to her as she goes to Masaya's shoulder and asks, "Did we or did we not ask for the scariest face in all of Paris?" Ichigo looks up at the siblings then and both her and the people of Paris stare at her in confusion. Masaya gets the message.

"I believe we did and here she is, ladies and gentlemen!" he announces. Kisshu takes the crown off from her arm and then places it on Ichigo's head, minding her ears.

"Congratulations, kitty cat," she tells Ichigo before giving her a quick kiss on her cheek. Ichigo turns red from the kiss before look back at Kisshu. She smiles at her expression. "Between you and me, I'd rather call you the cutest face in all of Paris." Ichigo's red cheeks deepen.

Masaya turns to Taruto and Pai and says, "Gentlemen, if you may."

Pai becomes the one to first clear his throat and then turn to the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen," he starts. "We have our king! Or rather Queen of the Festival!"

Then Taruto takes over, "Give it up for Ichigo, the Demon of Notre Dame!"

This time instead of shrieking, the crowd cheers like how it's been doing all day. Ichigo just stares at them and before she could get over her shock, she feels the siblings grab her arm and then lift her up.

"H-Hey, wh-" She's been carried to the audience before she could finish that and instead of dropping her, the crowd carries her away from Masaya's and Kisshu's hands. She's too preoccupied to look back at them to see the two waving her off. Taruto and Pai leap off stage and like leaders in a parade, they guide the crowd to carry Ichigo to a different little stage.

Ichigo, on the other hand, is seriously confused and is still progressing what's happening. Not even two minutes ago, everyone looked ready to run for the hills but now, they're all cheering, throwing more confetti in the air, and waving their arms around like they just don't care. So then, this isn't being scared of her or rejecting her. They're _accepting_ her, instead, and it feels…nice. It doesn't take long for the corners of Ichigo's mouth to rise and she starts waving at the crowd. Many wave back or just scream louder, and it's really making her feel good. She starts waving at everybody and eventually, she sees Deep Blue's tent and she waves at her Master. Unlike the crowd, he does not look happy but does Ichigo care at the moment? Nope.

Taruto and Pai lead the crowd to carry Ichigo to a small platform that's higher than the stage and when they put the cat girl on top, everyone could see her for sure. She's still waving at everyone as the two cyniclons join her with a satin red robe and a scepter. Pai puts the robe on Ichigo's shoulders and Taruto presents the scepter.

"Congratulations, your highness," they both say to her.

She can't believe this is happening. She honestly can't! Ichigo is crying as she accepts these things and the crowd still cheering, some even calling her name.

"I-chi-go! I-chi-go! I-chi-go!"

Truly, this is the best day of her life!


	5. Mistreat and Justice

Ch. 5: Mistreat and Justice

Ichigo truly is the having the best time of her life. Repeating such a comment could be tiring but for the young cat girl on stage with a crown, robe, scepter, and people cheering her name like she is the King of France, what other comment could she use to express how she felt? Mint could probably think of a few, staring at the girl in curiosity. Like everyone else, she was shocked by such a sight when Ichigo's feline features turned out to be real. Now she's calmed down from that but she's analyzing Ichigo like how a scientist would observe a lab specimen.

How could a human be born with the features she possesses?

She couldn't possibly be a human/cyniclon descendent. Mint has heard of such offsprings being born, and how they used to put her grandfather in a fit till it looked like he was about to keel over, but there were never rumors of anything like Ichigo. Oh would he get a heart attack over this?

But no matter how curious Ichigo's 'condition' may be, her smile is a little…contagious.

Smiling a little herself, Mint leans back on her chair and relaxes. "Very entertaining festival, uncle. On the way here, you had a face like it was the worst event in the world. It's not." Then her words stop abruptly when she turned to look at him.

Deep Blue is glaring at Ichigo. His stare like poison, full of malice and a lashing anger just thrashing to be released. He could very well get up from his chair and kill the girl on stage himself. Mint wondered for a minute if the reason he's looking at the Queen of Fools is because he's looking at her like some sort of abomination that should never have appeared in front of him, but it's more than that. There is something in his eyes that give off a different feel than that. However, there is something else as well. It only lasted for a second but Mint can swear she thought her uncle's eyes started to glow red with his rage and the pupils of his eyes were skinny too. But that appearance disappeared as soon as it appeared. Maybe it was just a trickery of the sun's glare and the judge's rage.

Something in her gut was telling her it wasn't.

Up in the bell towers, it looks like the three angels are having a little congratulations party themselves. Pudding jumping up and down, cheering Ichigo's name while throwing confetti everywhere, Lettuce clapping, smiling and crying tears of joy for her dear friend below, and Zakuro looking very pleased as her bird rested on her fingers. Until, she starts to see a couple of soldiers looking at Ichigo will some ill intentions.

"Wait," she said before rushing over to the rail for a better look. The other two angels stop what they're doing and look at her curiously as she soon concluded. "Something bad is going to happen."

In the audience, while people throw flowers and confetti at Ichigo, a soldier juggling a tomato in his hand elbows his fellow comrade beside him. "The scariest face in all of Paris? How about a make-over?" Then he throws it. Ichigo was too occupied with everything else around her that when she felt a twinge of danger from her sixth sense, she reacted too slow. The juicy tomato hit her right on her face and splattered its juices all over. She looked at its remains in shock as it drips down to the floor. The crowd ceases their applause and gasp. "HA! Now she's the ugliest face in all of Paris!" The other soldiers in the crowd laugh with him.

Again, that same fear and terror is starting to grow inside Ichigo. Why? Why did they throw this fruit at her? Has she done something wrong?

"Hail to the Queen!" Then another tomato is thrown at her from a different angel, spattering again on her face.

Soon a whole variety of fruits and vegetables are being thrown at her by the soldiers and they're all saying some sort of 'queen' comment or even "Bon appétit!" Ichigo tries to protect herself, shielding with her arms from the attacks but she takes a step to the side, where there is a squashed tomato, and she trips. Landing on her back, that's when the rest of the city start to laugh at her.

"I thought cats are supposed to land on their feet! HAHAHA!"

'_I need to get out of here!'_ Ichigo panics. _'Gotta get back to the tower!'_ She lifts herself up, having dropped her scepter, and she tries to leave.

"Where are you going, demon? The fun's just beginning!"

Her sixth sense twinges again and Ichigo raises her arm to block whatever it'll be. It's a rope and it caught her wrist, pulling her back and making sure she stays on stage. Then there's another and it got her around her neck. When that pulled, it starts choking Ichigo and she let out a silent scream from the burning rub on her skin and the cancellation on her air. It pulled and pulled until she ended up lying on the stage – over a circular platform on top she didn't notice before. The laughter roared louder.

"Let me go, na no da!" Pudding demands, pulling her small body against the clutches of the elder angel. Lettuce became conflicted rather to help the young angel or Zakuro.

"You can't go down there!" she told her. "You'll be turned to stone before you could reach her and then you'll shatter on the ground. Would that help her now? We are only spectators, Pudding! Our curse is to watch."

Her words struck Pudding, for she knows that they are the harsh reality. This time when Lettuce cried, they're of sorrow and helplessness. Pudding's struggles weaken and she too starts to cry, seeing what's happening to Ichigo down there. She collapsed, sobbing, on Zakuro's chest and the elder angel took one more glimpse down till not even she could handle it. She wasn't just telling Pudding to stay, she was telling herself too.

Heart pumping, fear is coursing through Ichigo's veins faster than her blood is flowing. Stomach contracting in terror, she could only think of one thing – that she had to get away. So letting her animal instincts take over, like before when her ears and tail were pulled, Ichigo's claws extended and she cut the rope around her neck, as well as the robe. While the stained satin cloth limps off her body like a wilting petal, Ichigo uses all the strength she had to pull her caught wrist. The two people who held that rope were unpredictably pulled – they didn't expect her to be so strong. She hasn't been ringing the Notre Dame bells for nothing.

Seeing that she's starting to escape, more people start throwing ropes at her and Ichigo tried as she might to cut them. A growl even started to rumble from her throat but it's weak and does little to scare anybody to stop them. The people of Paris continued and it soon became too much. Some men even jumped onto the stage and tied Ichigo down on the cylinder platform. Scared, confused, and unable to move, the men spin her and everywhere, Ichigo sees people laughing at her and throwing more food items at her. Some have even turned to eggs.

"Master!" she screams, not knowing what else to do. Everyone was too busy with their own fun, they didn't bother to care whom she's referring to or if she said anything. Looking up towards Deep Blue's tent, her eyes pleading desperate for help, she calls again. "Master, please! HELP ME!"

Deep Blue's anger had calmed some time ago but he does not flinch when his ward calls for him. All he does is remain sitting on that tall chair, observing the scene before looking away like he doesn't see it. Ichigo's heart dropped and the tears came.

She deserves this.

Hearing the commotion outside, Masaya ties to listen to the noise while Kisshu ties the sash on her pants; finally out of that dress. She was just about to go to her long hair when she hears Masaya ask, "Do you hear that?" Kisshu looks at him in surprise and she too hears the commotion.

She notes, "That's not good," her voice barely a whisper.

Masaya turns around and lifts up the door of his tent to have a look of the outside. Kisshu approaches him from behind. She looks out over Masaya's shoulders and she sees the vegetables being thrown at Ichigo and her being tied down to be the open target. Kisshu's eyes widen and his mouth opens from the sight of the cruelty being shown and the expression on Ichigo's face – hurt and terrified. She couldn't stand there.

Kisshu runs pass Masaya and he only had a second to notice that. "Kisshu!" he calls, but his voice gets muffled out from the loud laughter of the villagers. She runs right into the crowd, trying to pass every villager in her way as the pupils of her eyes become skinny with rage.

Seeing his sister not stopping to listen, Masaya runs after her.

Soon, not even Mint could stand this cruelty. "Uncle," she calls, turning to Deep Blue. "Give your men permission to stop this."

"Just wait," he answers. "A lesson needs to be learned here." When he looks back at Ichigo's tormented self, something happens that silences the once laughing people.

Finally getting irritated with all of the people being in the way, Kisshu stops pushing and just leaps into the air causing the people to stop laughing and to gasp at the sight of her being in the mid air. As she was in the air, she looked as if she were flying over their heads. Soon, she lands on the stage in front of Ichigo and catches a flying tomato right before it could accidently squash on her face. She turns around to the audience to show them her anger as a way to say 'back off' and squeezes the tomato in her grip. Noticing that the vegetables stopped, Ichigo looks up and gasps when she sees Kisshu standing before her. Unknown to Ichigo, Kisshu's eyes are really skinny now, almost like her cat eyes in a very dangerous way and she's baring extended fangs at everyone. What Ichigo does see is that now she sees Kisshu with big elf ears. She didn't have those before.

Shortly after Kisshu appears and with things finally calming down, Masaya runs up the stairs without trouble and slowly walks over to Ichigo's side. Ichigo flinches from how close he is as Masaya is looking at her with apologetic eyes. He tells her softly, "Don't be afraid, Ms Ichigo." He goes to his pocket and takes out a handkerchief. He brings it to her face and wipes away the tomato juice. "Please forgive us. This wasn't supposed to happen."

Kisshu screams to the people, "What is wrong with you people?! Tormenting this defenseless, terrified creature when she hasn't done anything to you!"

Masaya looks up at her and mumbles, "Kisshu, calm your anger." She heard him but she doesn't stop.

Her eyes turn from the people to Deep Blue and she instantly asks, "Your honor, how could you just sit by and watch as this poor creature was being tormented?! You're supposed to be a man who brings justice but you refuse to help those in need! You've mistreated this poor girl the same way you mistreat all of us!"

"Be quiet, girl!" Deep Blue orders, standing up. "And come down at once!"

"Just as soon as we free the poor, abused kitty," she answers.

But Deep Blue yells, "I forbid it!"

Kisshu raises the hand that squashed the tomato and opens her palm for the rest of the fruit to drip off. Then what appears in its place is a Sai. The people and Deep Blue gasp in surprise of its appearance as Kisshu turns around to Ichigo and cuts her ropes. The crowd gasp again from her bold move as she kneels down to Ichigo's level and asks in a kind and sincere voice, "Are you alright, little kitty?" Ichigo looks at her face and Kisshu is gently smiling at her. Her smile is just as dazzling as Masaya's. No. Hers is far more beautiful than her brother's. Kisshu's hand rises to Ichigo's face and she pushes away some of the loose hair to the side of her face. "You're free now."

The longer Deep Blue watches, the more it angers him. He growls, "How dare you defy me, witch!"

Kisshu looks up at Deep Blue and glares. She stands up and yells, "Do I look like a witch to you, Deep Blue?! Anyone can see that I'm a cyniclon!" Ichigo gasps in surprise as Masaya grasps Ichigo's arm and helps her get up.

Masaya whispers, "You shouldn't have said that!"

Kisshu looks back at him as she whispers back, "I don't care."

Then Deep Blue corrects, "You call yourself a cyniclon?" Both Kisshu and Masaya look back as Deep Blue corrects, "Levitation, summoning: only a male cyniclon have the powers and abilities you have displayed." Kisshu gasps in small surprise as her eyes return back to normal. Her ears and her fangs, however, remain the size they are now. She quickly looks at her hair like she just noticed it and Masaya lets out a sigh. Deep Blue turns to Mint and tells her, "Your vacation is over. Give the orders to arrest that witch, captain."

A lump is formed in Mint's throat but she swallows it and gets up from her chair. She respectfully bows and then turns to the other guards. With a snap and point of her fingers, they go on her silent command to surround the stage while deep down in her gut, she worries for the siblings' sake. She remains in the tent, watching from there.

Masaya goes up to Kisshu and starts counting the guards. "Let's see. One…four…eight…sixteen…So there's twenty of them and two of us."

Kisshu puts her hands on both sides of her face as she says like a damsel in distress, "Oh, what are we ever to do?" Then she starts crying in her hands. Masaya puts an encouraging hand on her shoulder and offers his handkerchief. Kisshu accepts it and blows her nose at it. But then there was smoke. It completely covered the both of them and Ichigo takes a few steps back in startlement. She sees Kisshu raising a hand over hers and her brother's head and the air around them ripples. Then they disappeared right when the smoke does. So that's how they pulled their entrance trick. The crowd gasps in surprise of their vanishing as Deep Blue just looks startled to see them gone.

"She is a witch!" he mumbles.

"Oh ju-u-u-udge!

When everyone turns to the food tent, they see both siblings, if they can really be called that, relaxing on top of the tent and Kisshu gives Masaya grape from her hand to his mouth. He tells her, "Delicious."

Kisshu wonders, "Do you think the judge would like some?"

That just angered Deep Blue more.

"Get them!"

The siblings look to the side and they see two guards climbing up a neighboring tent to reach them. Time to go. They get up and run to the other end as the guards finally teach the top. There is no other place to run but neither of them slowed their speed. At the edge, they leap off and who else to catch them than the audience. The guards stop and watch as the siblings are being carried away by the encouraging audience to get away, both of them waving at them 'goodbye.'

Alright, if they can do it so can the soldiers. The pair jump off the edge too but did the audience catch them? Nope, and they crash on the stoned floor, groaning loudly in pain.

The villagers carried Kisshu and Masaya to a vacant spot in the middle of the festival grounds. When the siblings saw those moaning soldiers, they laugh – Kisshu more exaggerate on it than her brother. Then the tanned gypsy sees trouble on the side. Four guards take out their sword and charging towards them. Masaya taps Kisshu's shoulder for her to see. Ooh, trouble just doubled now. But she sees at their side a pile of beer cargo, all strapped together by rope. Summoning her Sai again, she cuts it and like an avalanche, the cargo goes tumbling from its piled-form. The guards try to stop running when they see the stampede of beer coming but they couldn't move away fast enough to avoid getting run over. Then Kisshu grabs Masaya's wrist and pulls him to jump on and balance on the rolling barrels.

Five different guards start chasing them.

"Kisshu, you're in enough trouble already doing that," the brother lectures while riding on the beer cargo. "Want to make it worst for you?"

His sister groans, "Can you stop complaining? And duck!"

Masaya had just enough time to look and see one of the high walkers about to do a spin on one leg. That means that the other is going to hit anyone nearby and over the height of four feet. The siblings duck just in time but the five guard behind, not so much. With a strong kick from the high walker, his wooden leg-poll hit the guards square in the faces and they skid to the side.

Eleven down, nine to go.

Kisshu had to look back and she really looks pleased with herself right now. Not to forget, enjoying it too. Then again, Masaya sees danger first ahead of them.

"Time to get off." He grabs Kisshu's wrist and pulls while he leaps off his barrel. "Cart!"

The two of them get off just in time to avoid their barrels from rolling right to a hay cart. That means when the barrels of beer came rolling at top speed, they use the cart to take off into the air and land on two unexpected guards. The barrels crash on top and near them and burst open like eggs. Ichigo had to cover her nose from the sudden strong scent of alcohol in the air, or else she might get drunk on it.

Since Masaya just pulled her, Kisshu sort of stumbled a little when they got off and her brother had to catch her before she fell. They ended up in a dipping dance stance and despite the sight of wasted beer, the audience cheers for this show. Many of the female villagers squeal since Masaya had just saved his 'princess' from hurting herself. Oh how they wish they were Kisshu.

"Oh brother dear," said sister sings, her cheek raising up. She grabs his neck and growls under her breath with a crocked smile, "I honestly wonder if you plan these _open_ rehearsals…."

Smiling like an idiot, according to his sister's view point, Masaya excuses, "Sister dear, this was caused by your own missteps."

"Missteps my ass!"

"Now, men! We've got'em!"

The dancing siblings look to the side and they see two guards coming for them on horseback. Not the time to be chit-chatting.

"Time to go!" Kisshu gets herself up and the two make a run for it this time.

Despite their speed, which is pretty fast from years of running away from guards, horseback is still faster. Thankfully, the two of them see another high walker coming up. The siblings run for underneath his legs but they did a few modifications. Masaya pushes the legs a little farther apart and Kisshu jumps up to grab the pants of the high walker. Using her weight to pull it down, she lets go when it comes down just enough and the soldiers go running right for it. Like a giant slingshot, the guards' horses pulls them back enough for when they go flying, they go far. Ichigo and the rest of the audience watch those two soar like birds, before they come crashing down.

What also came down from the sky are their hats but that didn't follow them.

The metal hats land on Masaya's and Kisshu's heads perfectly, as if they were expecting them. The crowd goes wild with cheering and shouting and the gypsy siblings take off their hats to bow. They are certainly making the Paris guards look like fools and giving their just desserts.

There are more sounds of horse hooves. Looking up, Kisshu and Masaya see another group of three soldiers on horseback and both come to the same idea. Using the hats, they both throw them like Frisbees. The two hats hit one soldiers and then ricochet in different directions to hit the other two. They don't stop there. One hat that went to the right goes flying right towards Mint's head. She ducks just in time, hitting the high chair behind her.

"Is that twinkle-toes trying to impress me?" she questions lightly, and thankfully she asked that low enough so her uncle didn't hear it.

The other hat/Frisbee goes flying heads straight for Ichigo and she had to duck before it could hit her. Kisshu saw that and flinches a bit since that was her hat. "Sorry, kitty cat!" she yells.

She feels a tap on her shoulder again. "We got two more."

Yep, two more on horseback – again.

Kisshu asks, "Is this twenty?"

"Yep," Masaya answers.

"Good. This way, then."

The siblings go running in the direction of Deep Blue's tent and while this causes some confusion for a few people, Kisshu looks up. Whistling with her two fingers in her mouth, she calls, "Tasuku!"

The siblings pass two pillars right at that moment and the only thing connecting these pillars is a rope tied at the top and a tipe-walker in the middle of that rope bridge. With a long wooden balancing stick in his hands, Tasuku wraps his knees on the top and goes upside down to drop the balancing stick for the two guards to catch. It landed right in front of their faces with their horses going top speed that their minds just go blank for too long.

"Uncle, down!" Mint knocks Deep Blue down to the floor and just in time for the two soldiers to push the balancing stick right through the tent. Kisshu and Masaya had skid under their tent but not before the gypsy witch opened her palm to the open air and both siblings disappear through rippled air. All of the villagers end up laughing when the Judge's tent was cut down in two.

A lump starts to form from the fallen clothes of the tent and it's Deep Blue, furious and he ripped the fabric in two when he got up. Mint stands up after him and they both look a little worse for wear. The enrage man looked around furiously for the two imbeciles and it took him no time at all. Both him and his niece look up at the main stage and there they are with a giant purple blanket on the floor. Masaya waves at them like he's saying goodbye to an old friend and Kisshu waves with a cocky smirk. They grab the blanket and simultaneously, they pick up an end and raise it high above their heads, spinning under it. When the blanket came back down, it glided to the floor flat just as the clouds in the sky gather together to hide the sun. Pai and Taruto appear from backstage and the older cyniclon removes the blanket as the younger one presents nothing. Both siblings have disappeared out of sight, again.

Deep Blue grunts in his anger and he cursed under his breath, too. Mint can understand her uncle's antagonism while she keeps the level-head. One thing is for certain, her uncle is not going to live this day down until those siblings are found. But her uncle also turns around to the stage where Ichigo still stands on and the fury in his eyes intensified. The cat girl sees that rage and her insecurities come back faster than a fallen piano. Ears flatten against her head and her tail wraps around her leg again to hide.

"My lord and lady!"

Mint looks up to the voice and a bruised up looking soldier has brought hers and her uncle's horse. Taking Masha's reigns, she tells him, "It's 'Captain' now," before lifting herself up to the saddle. "Uncle, I assume you have orders."

Taking his attention away from his ward, Deep Blue snatches the reigns of his horse and climbs on his horse first before answering her. "Find them, and I want that gypsy witch alive."

"Yes, sir." Turning to the recuperated guards, Mint orders to them all. "You heard him! Find the gypsy siblings but do not harm the girl!"

Ichigo keeps her head down and stays where she is. She knows her master is coming. She can hear all too recognizable hoof-steps of his horse. She can also hear the soft sound of thunder from the clouds above. With every step she hears, Ichigo's heart pounds faster and harder. To prevent herself from having an early panic attack, she tries to focus on how long it'll take till the rain will start. She does the count down from seven in her head and at zero, rain begins to fall and Deep Blue has arrived at her stage. Dare she does, she looks up and the wrathful look on his face has calmed but only to express shameful disappointment. Ichigo quickly looks back down again.

"I'm sorry, Master. I will never disobey you again." Raising her hands to her head, Ichigo removes the Queen, or really King of the Festival's crown. She gazes at it for a moment, lightly rubbing against the smooth metal that shines her reflection. But it's by her reflection that she could no longer look at it.

This face of hers…the features she was born with it…she's a monster. She heard it all before but only now does it sink in, because today is all the proof she needs. The angels above gaze at their friend with sorrow and sympathy as they watch Ichigo put the crown down on the stage. Then she leaps off and makes her way for the Cathedral.

When Ichigo landed, the villagers instantly move away from her as if she possessed the plague. A few of the women screamed and mothers grab their children to pull away from her. Ichigo's head snapped to all directions from these reactions, and each one made her want to get away faster. Much to their surprise, Ichigo sprints into a run on her feet and hands. They watch as she runs to the cathedral as fast as she could and then leaped up as high as she could up the wall – which was more than twenty feet. Some villagers gasp in horror of this and as Ichigo continued to climb, she reached the nearest balcony she could reach. She runs to the door at the wall and she spares a moment to look back down.

None of these people will ever accept her. She is a demon and she does not belong down there, or out there in the world. With a few sly tears that mix with the rain drops on her face, Ichigo pushes the door open to get inside and closes it shut behind her.


	6. God Help the Outcasts

Ch. 6: God Help the Outcasts

_Memory of the Past…_

"_There she is! Don't let her get away!"_

_Hearing the yells of the guards chasing her, the gypsy cyniclon woman grins like the troublemaker she is as she leaps from one roof top to the other. Her elf-like big ears visible for all to see, long braid flaps glides on the wind like how a wet sheet dries in a strong gust, her milk-white skin bares under the sun from her neck, shoulders, legs(thanks to a long slip up to her thigh), and her naked feet, silver bracelets jingle on her ankles and wrists with every step she takes, and very little sweat barely sticks her bangs against the side of her face. She has had a life-time of experience running away from pursuers. Dripping balls of sweat was so preteen years. Honestly, it's tough being a female cyniclon because they don't have the same abilities as the males of her kind; levitation and flying included. Their skills reside in other things – things that can't help her here._

_While she runs on the roofs of houses and shops, the Paris guards are trying to catch up to her from ground-level. Thanks to her swift footwork and her never-ending stamina, those guards are starting to fall behind since they've been chasing her for the past half an hour. Then, the young woman sees an opportunity. One that makes her grin widen to a victory smile. She sharply turns towards that direction and seeing that, the five men chasing her push even harder on their tired, aching legs to make the turn. They try to avoid as many of the villagers who just so happen to be there buying groceries, running their little shops, or playing silly games. But if they could not, the guards don't feel bad at all pushing them aside. Then when the cyniclon woman makes another turn that would lead those men into an ally, those men didn't even bother to think as they follow her there, only to see that they've been lead to a dead end and a couple of other men unloading boxes of cargo for larger store._

_**Bam**_

_Up on the roof, the woman snickers as she watched the little accident. Seeing the guards splattered on the stone floor with an avalanche of boxes and merchandises half burying them, ho this is good morning entertainment. She stands there long enough for some to sit up and hold their aching limps from the crash. When two of them look up, she smiles and waves as friendly as she can be._

"_Thanks for the morning exercise, boys! Give my regards to the Judge!" Then she winks before turning around and goes running off before those guards' buddies decide to come in as backup and start chasing her again._

_However what none of them were able to see was she headed for the edge of the roof and instead of jumping on to the next one, she deliberately falls into the gaping space between the buildings. Reminder again, female cyniclons cannot levitate like the males one do but one of the abilities the she-cyniclons do have that the men ones don't is animal transformation. Falling into the dark space, the gypsy woman's body changes immediately into something smaller and one of her favorites. Her body shrinks, black feathers grew out of her skin, her nose shrinking as her mouth lengthened and pointed, and her skinny dancer legs become literally twig skinny with talons. In under a blink of an eye, the cyniclon woman transforms into a crow and she goes flying off into the blue sky with no witnesses._

_She does hear in the wind one of the guards screaming, "Damn you, gypsy woman! This isn't the end, YOU HEAR ME!" And the crow cawed in laughter._

_The gypsy woman didn't go too far. Maybe about a mile or two away from where she left the guards. She wasn't really paying attention because she was enjoying the wind running through her every feather on her shrunken body and the gentle warmth of the sunlight. The view wasn't too bad either. She loves being a bird, and good thing too since she can't exactly change to be something different. Female cyniclons usually only have one animal transformation, depending on the person they are. So it makes sense to this woman who loves freedom to be a bird and have the greatest form of sovereignty anyone could have – no restrictions from gravity. Male cyniclons have this liberty as well but since cyniclons are mostly hated, best not make themselves known by flying everywhere. They'll get shot out of the sky. At least turning into a bird also gives her the perfect disguise._

_Before landing in a vacant narrow street, the cyniclon woman transforms back to her original form and her bird noises turn into chuckles for her success, "Those fools will never catch me," she says to herself. Then stretching her arms up to the sky, a figure moves in the shadow of an alley way she stands in front of. She thinks to herself unknowing, __**'No one in this village can ever catch me!'**__ She twirls around, as if she's doing a little victory dance._

_Then out of nowhere, a hand roughly grabs her lowered wrist in a tight, secure grip._

_Now, one would think that this woman would start panicking and going 'oh crap!' when she finally got caught but she doesn't. A sly smile appears on her face before she turns to her capture and does what she would always do in this sort of situations – turning to her feminine charm to near maximum._

"_Ah!" she cries, with a soft high pitch voice. Putting on the innocent, fragile look with watery eyes and rosy cheeks, she speaks just the same as before, "Let go! You're hurting me…"_

_The hand retracts back, startled, and his voice sounds just as taken back and nervous as he feels. "Maria, I'm sorry. Forgive m-"_

"_Kidding!" she chirps, interrupting him with her tongue sticking out. He blinks at her for that as she strides closer to him like a feline on the prowl – a beautiful feline. Circling her arms on his shoulders, Maria is within nose touching range when she says to him, "You should learn to stay assertive if you're going for that approach, Deep Blue."_

* * *

Ichigo wants to be left alone. Her angel friends can sense that as they stare down at her from the higher levels inside the cathedral. From the wooden skeleton of the towers, they stand eight levels above her as Ichigo leans her back against one of the pillars – her legs folded against her chest, her arms wrapped around them, and forehead resting on her knees. She makes no sound in her sobs and her friends have no idea how to comfort her. A few do come to mind but none could work.

They can't tell her to try again next year or not to worry because Ichigo swore just one day, and it scarred her for life.

They also can't say that it could have been worst because seriously, has that saying actually worked?

The only thing they can do, and the only thing Ichigo wants them to do, is leave her be and let her cry – like how the heavens are doing outside.

With the entire Paris police force too occupied in their search, no one bothered to notice a hunched-over hooded person move near the small tall stage where Ichigo left her crown. He, or she, climbs a few stairs up and when the crown is in view, he or she takes it as swiftly as he or she can. Then he or she scurries down to another hooded person who has a walking stick to help stand on the wobbly legs. Once together, the first hooded person offers a hand and the second hooded person gladly takes it. Together, they start walking towards the cathedral to hide from the rain.

Mint can see her uncle becoming more and more enrage the longer it's taking them to find the dancing gypsy siblings. However she wonders if they're really siblings now, as well as a few other things. But turning away from a scene of Deep Blue ready to behead the next person who tells him they can't find them, she sees the old-looking hooded couple just about to enter the Cathedral. One of them opens up the door for the one on the walking stick and then falls in afterwards. Another curious thought comes to mind.

"Lieutenant!" she calls. The closest soldier comes scurrying to her.

"Yes, Captain!"

"Any signs of the siblings?"

"N-No, Captain."

"Then you better report to the Judge and give him a message from me when you do, after you tell him your findings," she says. Mint had to suppress an amused smirk when she saw how the soldier tensed in his armor. Deep Blue's wrath goes noticed. "Tell him I will be praying for successful for our search. I'm sure he'll understand."

* * *

After removing their disguise, the interior structure instantly captures Masaya's and Kisshu's attention. The gothic structure of the hallways, the ceiling, and the walls are incredible. There is no chandelier for light, only candle stands and the outside light shining in through the colored stained glass windows. There is little light thanks to the rain but it's just enough to give the church a mythical feel. The hallway feels endless, as if there really is no end to this house of God. There are very few people inside, all of them praying with bowed heads or gazing upon the statues of the angels and the prophets. The dancing siblings walk further in, Kisshu keeping an eye out if anyone will look for them in here while Masaya is still captivated by the infrastructure.

"Amazing," was all he could really say. Kisshu doesn't look impressed. Only annoyed.

Then she starts to hear footsteps coming up behind them. That and the sound of a sword slapping against a body as the person moves. That's the only thing that prove this person isn't here to pray. When the body was close, Kisshu turns around and grabs Mint's sword from her sheath and points the tip at her. Masaya jumps when he notices this and turns around to see Kisshu threatening Mint with her own sword.

"Whoa, now!" Mint lets out. "Let's be calm here and put the weapon down. You might cut yourself."

Kisshu answers, "Thanks for the warning but I'm sure I can manage. Get out."

"This is a place of sanctuary," she tells him. "Anyone is welcomed in here thanks to the higher power, and that's not you."

"Kisshu," Masaya calls. "Let's listen to her."

Kisshu looks at her brother and says, "She may have helped us before but she's still Deep Blue's niece!" Seeing that he's distracted, Mint sees an opportunity. "And Captain of the guards, we can't trust her." Then quickly, Mint grabs the handle of her sword and by the time that Kisshu looks at her in surprise, Mint kicks her away. Kisshu lands on the ground and Masaya watches in surprise.

"Obviously, I deserve that position." Mint places the blade on her shoulder and says, "Also, the Judge and I may share the same family name but we're only related by that. We're not blood. And another thing, don't touch my sword. I just got it today."

Kisshu pushes herself up and smirks. "Oh? It doesn't suit you." Then she summons one of her Sais again and charges at Mint with it. With quick movement, Mint raises her sword and blocks it. They push against each other before Mint pushes Kisshu off. Then Kisshu attacks again. They block and attack and block again.

Masaya watches and lets out a sigh before asking, "Can't we just get along? This is a church."

Hearing him, Mint says, "You know your brother's right. Maybe you should listen."

"I usually don't listen to him," Kisshu answers, "in case you haven't noticed."

Masaya agrees, "It's true, Ms. Mint."

"Don't be friendly with her!"

"And why not?" Mint asks. When Kisshu was going to struck her again, she dodges and grabs the wrist to push her forward while Mint passes her. As Kisshu was stumbling a bit, she turns around to see Mint standing before Masaya, her sword away, and she's sticking her hand out. "Please to meet you. You already know my name so I'm sure you don't want me to repeat it."

Masaya takes the hand and instead of shaking it, he kisses it like a gentleman. She has a small smile on her face for that. "My name is Masaya, Ms. Mint. And you've already met my sister, Kisshu." Seeing that they're all 'friends' now, Kisshu looks away with her arms crossed in front of her chest and a pout for an expression – her Sai gone, too.

Mint tells him, "For a girl, she's a pretty good fighter. Almost as good as a man but maybe she should stick to her dancing." Hearing this made a vein pulse on Kisshu's head, actually three, and her body is shaking with rage. Masaya sees that but he tries to keep the smile on his face as calm as he can be.

"Well my sister is actually a very talented fighter. She just goes easy on girls."

A fourth vein appears on Kisshu's head and now flames are appearing all around her body.

"Well I'm sorry that I fall in the girl category," Mint tells him, ignoring the flames of anger. "But instead of talking about fighting, there's an answer I want that you were unfortunately unable to give me earlier."

Kisshu and Masaya look at her in confusion and Masaya asks, "What was the question?"

She answers, "Why is it that your eyes look so sad when you're smiling?"

After hearing that, Masaya's widen in shock like she just found out something no one else did and Kisshu is surprise that Mint noticed. Then…

_Boom_

The three of them turn to the Cathedral door and they see Deep Blue with at least three guards. "Good work, my niece. It appears your prayer has been answered."

Kisshu looks back at Mint and glares at her. "You conniving witch!" she hisses.

Mint looks at him for a moment before thinking something fast. Walking pass Masaya, she tells her uncle, "I'm sorry, my dear uncle, but they both claim sanctuary. We can't arrest them."

But Deep Blue orders, "Then help us drag them outside and-" Then he's interrupted.

"That won't be necessary, Deep Blue."

The four of them look to the side and they see a different Archbishop than the one eighteen years ago. That man has passed away and now his successor stands before them with a priest at his side. If it weren't for the extra fancy clothing to tell the difference between them, the instant assumption would have been the older man with long brunette hair and chestnut eyes is the Archbishop and the younger man with golden sun hair and sky blue eyes is the priest. Honestly, it's the other way around. They both approach the staring group and the one who called out to Deep Blue is the Archbishop, Ryou.

He also says, "You of all people should respect the sentry of the church. That lesson was given to you years ago, don't you remember?"

These two are the children who were there that night eighteen years ago, standing by the great doors of Notre Dame. Deep Blue remembers that day well and it irritates him when he heard that. With a wave of his arm in command, the three soldiers turn around to walk away and he, too, does the same. Mint releases a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Am I to leave as well, Father?" she asks the Archbishop.

Telling her cooly, "Permit me to say that it is not every day I see a woman of warfare statue. So since you are and you're really here not to pray, I will say yes."

The brunette priest, or Father Keiichiro, smiles like stoned angels in this building. "Allow us, Lady Mint."

Both the Archbishop and the priest grab Mint's arm, one each, and they start dragging her away. Some escort of asking to leave. This feels like them kicking her out. The siblings watch her leaving like this and only one of them finds amusement in it.

As Kisshu slightly laughs from Mint being exited out, someone grabs her wrist from behind. By the time she realizes it, her hand is twisted behind her and a hand grasps her shoulder. When Masaya turns around, he sees Deep Blue behind his sister and takes a few steps back in surprise. Where did he come from when he was about to leave? Kisshu winces in pain. Masaya looks ready to help but what can he do when Deep Blue has his sister hostage and this is a church?

Deep Blue asks in Kisshu's ear, "Do you believe that you've outwitted me? I am a patient man, my dear. And I know _cyniclons_ don't do well in small, contained places." Then risking a chance, his nose goes to her hair and he inhales her sweet scent. Masaya looks a bit disturbed by that as Kisshu feels completely disgusted.

She asks, "What are you doing?"

Deep Blue answers, "Just picturing a rope around your pretty neck." His hand moves from her shoulder to her neck to prove his point. Kisshu uses her other hand to push him off.

Kisshu turns towards him as she snarls, "I think you were picturing something else, you creep." Deep Blue looks at her a bit startled that she was able to get away but he quickly gains back his composure.

"A lady shouldn't speak such vile words," he tells her.

But she tells him, "Oh, I can say far worst, judge!"

Deep Blue just grins at her attitude, but it's very obvious that his eyes do not share the same sentiment. "No matter. Both you and your brother are trapped here and I must say, it's a magnificent cage. If either one of you step one foot outside, then you're mine. I hope you don't mind if I add special wards to keep you from using your _abilities_ so long as you stay in this building." Deep Blue begins to walk pass her but when he was right at Kisshu's side, he tells her, "Good day, witch." Then he walks to the door and closes it behind him. Both Kisshu and Masaya watch him go with wide eyes, but Kisshu is the first to move in panic. She rushes to the door and opens it slightly. When she peeks outside, she sees Deep Blue enter his carriage and rides away. Meanwhile, there is a group of guards in the rain.

"Deep Blue's orders! Place a ward on every door and a guard as well."

After hearing that, Kisshu slams the door shut and kicks it. "Why that dirty rotten, murdering, cruel-hearted, sicko ba-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Masaya quickly says, interrupting Kisshu. He rushes up to her and places his hands on her shoulders. "Cease your words. This is a house of God."

Kisshu sharply turns to him, shoving his hands off her. "I have the right to say what I want to say and I don't care where I am! You saw what he was doing and all you did was just stand there!"

"What was I suppose to do?" he asks her. "He had you in his grasp and with one wrong move, he could have easily broken your neck."

"I can make sure that he doesn't do that while you punch his teeth out!"

"Violence is not acceptable in here, child."

When both Kisshu and Masaya turn to the side, they see Ryou lighting the candles with Keiichiro by his side with a bible. Ryou looks at both of them as he reminds, "If you have started violence in here, then Deep Blue would have an excuse to send you both to death."

"Well at least I can teach that creep a lesson," Kisshu tells him. "Besides, you saw what he did to that poor girl! How can you just watch by while that happened?"

"Yes, what Deep Blue did to Ichigo was cruel," Ryou agrees, blowing out the flame after he finished with the candles. "But Ichigo disobeyed Deep Blue and she is his responsibility. One must learn to be obedient."

"And the punishment is humiliation in front of the whole town with tomatoes, lettuce, and every vegetable in Paris thrown at you?" Kisshu asks in disbelief. "What do you have against people who are different anyway?"

Keiichiro tells both of them, "You both did well to help the poor girl but you can't change the wrongs of the city all by yourselves."

"Well outside is no help at all!" Kisshu grumbles.

"Maybe not out there but maybe in here could be of better help," Ryou tells her. Kisshu looks up as both Ryou and Keiichiro turn to leave. Masaya and Kisshu are left alone.

When they were long gone, Kisshu grumbles, "God's not helpful if that's what they were implying."

"Kisshu!" Masaya calls, scolding.

"Well he isn't," Kisshu tells her brother.

"I don't know about that." Kisshu looks at her brother in confusion as Masaya walks pass her. He walks up to the painting of _Beata Maria_. "People say that God allows things to happen for a reason. Maybe he wanted us to meet Ms. Ichigo."

"And I tell you that God doesn't do squat!" Kisshu reminds.

Masaya looks back at Kisshu and reminds, "God helped us, remember?"

"Yeah, but not mother."

Masaya lets out a sigh and mumbles, "You can deny all you want but I don't mind making another prayer. Maybe God can help us, outcasts."

"Only if God knew what it's like to be rejected and neglected by others."

"What if he did? What if God was an outcast like how we are and how Ms. Ichigo is now?"

Kisshu doesn't make a comment to that. She just stares as her brother raises his hands up into a prayer and closes his eyes. "_Beata Maria_, if you can, hear my prayer. The outcasts of Paris desperately need your help. I ask for mercy on those whom have been hungry since birth and mercy on those who have been rejected by the world. No one may believe us but we look up to you, as children always do. We are your children, aren't we? I ask for nothing. I know I will be alright but there are so many whom I know are less lucky than my sister and I. Please, if you don't help us then nobody else will." Masaya uses one hand to touch his lips, his forehead, his left shoulder, and his right shoulder.

Then he feels Kisshu's comforting hand on that shoulder. He looks at her as she says, "You're supposed to go on your knees at the praying section of this place, brother."

Masaya tenses up a moment for his mistake before saying, "Oh, right."

"However," Kisshu adds in the last minute, "while most people here ask for fame and glory, I think you're the only one who made the unselfish one. If there is a God, which I doubt, he better have heard that one. Anyone who's ever gotten a beating deserves mercy." Masaya then smiles at his sister. Then he hugs her and she hugs him back.

"Hey, what are you doing here?!"

Both siblings break their hug to look at what happened and they see a candle stand fall from being knocked over by a startled person. Beside a pillar, Ichigo looks at the civilian who called her out and she looks like she was caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Haven you caused enough trouble already?" Masaya and Kisshu are surprise to see her, honestly, as she turns around and starts running off on all fours again.

After seeing that it really is Ichigo, Masaya and Kisshu go running off to follow her – Kisshu being the first to run after her.


	7. Kind Words and Gentle Hands

Ch. 7: Kind Words and Gentle Hands

Ichigo knew Masaya and Kisshu came into the Cathedral when she heard him say, "Amazing."

She didn't believe it at first but then she could hear Kisshu and Mint dueling so she started climbing down from the safety of her tower to the actual church part of her home. Her angel friends looked at her with wonder of what caught her attention. They didn't follow for very long, of course, but close enough to hear the echoed voices of the cathedral and to hear Masaya's prayer.

Ichigo climbed all the way down to the second story of the church and she arrived just in time to see the brother sibling put his hands together in prayer. She stared at him in amazement from his selfless prayer and her cheeks started blushing again. She didn't understand why, or wondered. It's a thought to be considered next time. She only knew that she wanted to get closer. So she did. She found the stairs and climbed down, staying in the shadows as to not be seen. But that didn't matter, did it?

One of the civilians saw her, pointed her out for the rest to see, and then she just panicked. She did what she does best after that – run, and those two followed.

"Wait!"

"We just want to talk to you, Ms. Ichigo."

The dancing siblings chase after her up the stairs and then into the Bell Towers. They climbed up the spiral stairs and down a few hallways. Ichigo on all fours is like trying to chase after a cheetah. They can see where she went but only for a split second and if they hesitate or pause in anyway, they won't be able to keep chasing her because they won't be able to know which turns to make.

Peeking out from a higher level up, the three angels see the gypsy siblings following their friend.

"Look, look, na no da!" Pudding points out like the others don't see. "It's those two from the show, na no da!"

Lettuce gasps in excitement, "The first people Ms. Ichigo met in the festival!"

"And the first she's met outside the cathedral," Zakuro corrects. "They're both quite handsome." Then she turns away and leaves, leaving the other two confused.

"Shouldn't she say that to one of them, na no da?"

"Handsome can be used to describe girls, too."

While chasing her, Ichigo has just run in through the door that would lead to her living area in the Cathedral and from that open door, Kisshu and Masaya see her leaping up to the side. Most likely to grab on to something to hide.

"Ugh! This is getting us nowhere," Kisshu groans, impatiently. Then her legs suddenly grow weak and collapse.

Quickly, her brother caught her. "Kisshu?"

For a moment, she's confused but then she growls and hits her fist on the stone rail. "The bastard! The damn wards are kicking in. Ow!" She shakes her hand from the pain as her brother helps her stand up. Obviously, she hit that rail a little too hard.

"The delicate hands of a lady are finally revealed." Masaya grins to his sister's glaring face. Next thing he knows, she elbows his ribs and he releases her from that pain.

"You should start a comical act, Masaya. I'd bet you'll be paid better than as a lousy dancing partner."

"Ouch…" Masaya laughs. Kisshu rolls her eyes since she knows he's not referring to his physical aches. With all that done, they both go through door and they see the pillars and the only staircase for people who can't just eight feet into the air.

"Go out there, Ichigo onee-chan!" Pudding encourages as loudly as she can in a whisper.

Several floors up, Ichigo is gripping onto one of the wooden pillars in the shadows with her claws imbedded into the wood. Pudding is trying to pull her off, Lettuce isn't but she's standing by close, and Zakuro is off to the side, petting her bird. "I-I-I can't! Wh-What would I say to them?"

"Open your mouth!" Lettuce suggests hurryingly. "S-something will come out."

Ichigo does but she just mutters and stutters invalid words.

"Nothing came out," Zakuro blunts.

The siblings look around to spot any place where Ichigo disappeared to. Only problem is because of her agility, she has a lot of places to hide in. "Kitty cat!" Kisshu calls, her voice echoing throughout the bell tower. "We're not here to hurt you! Like my brother said, we just want to talk to you."

Masaya points to the staircase and since they have nothing else to lose, they go up. "I want to apologize for what happened today." They see another staircase to climb. "We had no idea who you were. I would never in my life have pulled you-" Kisshu was the first to reach the top of the second staircase and Masaya sees her stop. When he came up fully, he sees why his sister stopped. "…up on…stage."

The siblings have arrived in Ichigo's room and what captures their attention wholly is her works of sketches and her mini figures. The rain has stopped for a while so the clouds are starting to descend away, letting the setting sun shine it's goodbye to Paris. Those rays are also shining through the Bell Tower spaces and are shining on the hanging stained glass. The colored reflecting lights dance on the table's surface. It's astonishing. Kisshu is the first to step for a closer look at the miniature town while Masaya walks towards the sketch books. Zakuro peeks out from above and she motions for the others to follow. The other three, meaning Ichigo who decided to un-claw herself from the pillar, come out and they watch what those two will do.

Will they give up and leave, or continue going through Ichigo's precious artwork?

"This is amazing," Masaya exhales, looking through a few pages.

"This is _beautiful_," Kisshu corrects, lightly the hanging stained glass. Then turning up to the open space, she asks in a louder voice, "Did you make these all yourself, kitty cat?"

Ichigo scurries more in the dark to hide. She wants to answer but her throat is tight and her mind is going a complete blank on what to say. Seeing her not answering, Pudding decides to try charades to talk to her.

Pudding motions with her hands, _"Ichigo onee-chan, you get down there and talk!"_

Ichigo gives her the face of, _"I can't!"_

"_Ichigo onee-chan, this will help us become humans! Our wings and halo will go 'bye-bye' if you go down there and make friends! They're the ones who helped you. They're good people, you can trust them!"_

Pudding is making a point and Ichigo looks at the others to know if they feel the same. Lettuce also motions/encourages her to go down but she also has a nervous smile to slightly agree with what the younger angel is saying. Zakuro is just petting her bird, and she nods.

After a minutes, Kisshu becomes slightly disappointed so Masaya decides to help her out a little. "If we could do something like this, Ms. Ichigo, you wouldn't see us dancing on the streets." Maybe if they keep talking, the cat girl will come out.

"B-But you're both wonderful dancers."

Kisshu and Masaya look behind them and hiding behind one of the pillars with a dark green clothe handing on it, they can't see Ichigo but they can see her feet on the floor and her tail wrapped around at the ankle. Aw, she's shy again.

Ichigo hears footsteps coming closer to her and each one is like a speed increase on her beating heart. It's amazing she hasn't passed out yet.

"Would you like to come out so we can see you better?" Masaya asks from behind the cloth.

"You don't want to see me," Ichigo replies with a voice softer than a whisper. They almost didn't hear her.

Then Kisshu asks, "Now why wouldn't we want to see the cutest face in all of Paris?" She pulls away the cloth and is the first to see Ichigo, looking a little taken back. She smiles as kindly as she did when she protected her. "I'm pretty sure I called you that."

Ichigo feels her hand being grabbed and Masaya gently pulls her out into the setting sun's light. "Hello, again, Ms. Ichigo."

She's under his spell again. She can feel it. His alluring, friendly smile that expresses so much compassion – the most Ichigo's ever seen. She stutters back, "H-Hello."

His other hand goes under her chin and lifts her face up more to search for something. "You're not hurt are you? Again, we like to apologize for what happened today."

Her cheeks blush again and she quickly tries to hide her face so he won't see. "I-I'm fine, really. A-And I know it's not your fault. You're both very kind people."

Kisshu walks around her brother and Ichigo so she could pop her head in front of the cat girl's red face. With a smile, she tells her, "And you're a surprising person, kitty cat. The miniature Paris is exact down to the last detail." Then she looks up and looks at the sketch books for the first time. Since Masaya looked through them, the drawing of the festival is displayed. "I was wondering why you didn't have mini figures of the people but you draw them." She approaches that picture and does the same of analyzing every inch of it before looking at the one behind.

Masaya releases Ichigo's hand and they both watch Kisshu's curiosity with the drawings as how a young child would examine a new shiny toy. She tells him, "I thought about wooden carvings once but I like to draw what they're doing instead. Like recording a memory of how they lived their lives instead of being little wooden stiffs. I rather draw them living then carving statues." Ichigo hears a slight cough that neither of the siblings heard and she looks up to see Pudding and Zakuro giving her the eye. She mouths, 'sorry.'

"That's a good philosophy, Ms. Ichigo," Masaya compliments with a smile.

Kisshu lifts up another picture and it's the one of Deep Blue. She stares at that one for a moment but only because she's trying to fight the urge to rip it to a million pieces. Instead, she drops the other sheets she's been holding up and lets them fall back to the one of the festival from a year ago. She points to the main stage in the middle and asks, "Isn't this us, kitty cat? You wouldn't happen to be a fanatic fan whose spied on our every performance? No wonder you're so nervous with us."

Ichigo had no idea how to respond to that as she sees Kisshu mischievously smiling at her. Poor girl gaps and mutters again inaudible words.

"Please don't take my sister seriously. Kisshu likes to tease people, especially the ones she likes." He turns to Kisshu. "Kisshu, that was a little rude."

She shrugs. "I'm only playing. But I would have been honored." Then she winks at the cat girl. It's official, Ichigo is being creep out. Kisshu eyes the picture again and adds, "I hated that dress. It was so itchy."

"You don't like dresses, period," Masaya reminds.

"And you should know why, _brother dear_."

_Psst!_

Ichigo looks back up and Lettuce is pointing to the windows, almost urgently. Ichigo looks and she sees the fading light of the sunset, it's changing colors from bright orange to a small hint of purple now.

'_What?'_ she asks with her face.

Pudding responds, with hands, _"Show them around!"_ She gets it.

"Um, would you two like to see something?" Ichigo asks, fiddling with her fingers. "I-It'll be over pretty soon."

The siblings look at her curiously until Masaya responds, "We'd love to, Ms. Ichigo." Her face brightens up a little hearing him.

"Follow me." Then she leaps up and lands on the pillar lying horizontally ten feet above. Then like she just realizes it, she sticks her head out and tells them, "Sorry! There's, ah, another stair case over there." She points to the left and it's more of a small ladder that'll help the siblings climb up to her floor.

Arriving, Masaya and Kisshu are surprise by all of the bells they can see. There truly are golden bells of all sizes and they all glitter in their majestic, even when the sunlight doesn't shine on all of them. There's not a speck of dust on them. They see Ichigo up ahead and as they follow her, they keep staring at all the bells they can see – plus more above.

"Wow," Masaya gasps. "I never knew there were so many of them."

"No wonder we can hear them all across Paris," his sister comments. "And you take care of all of them, kitty cat?"

Ichigo stops in front of an official ladder and nods. "A-All my life. One of the few joys I have up here. This way, hurry!" She climbs up in a matter of seconds and as soon as she was out of sight, Kisshu leans against Masaya's back.

"I'm really starting to like her. I call dibs!" she whispers.

Masaya has a nervous smile on his face before responding, "Kisshu, she's a girl. Not an object." They arrive at the ladder and he climbs up first before his sister follows.

"I'm just saying."

The siblings find themselves in a small little tower that's only as big as it's door and it leads to the outside. Ichigo is already at the rail and when she heard them coming out, she points to the side. If Masaya and Kisshu weren't already amazed with what they've seen already, they definitely were then. Kisshu runs to the rail for a closer look and her brother soon joins her at a slower pace. The sight of the sun setting behind the mountains across Paris takes his breath away. Colors of orange and purple decorated the sky while the buildings and mountains take a darker shade, and the river is the perfect reflection of the sky above. If anything, it feels like they're on top of the world and the feeling is exhilarating.

"Wow!" Kisshu exclaims, looking out at the view.

Ichigo's face brightens as she asks, "Do you two like it?"

Masaya turns to her and smiles. "It's beautiful, Ms. Ichigo." Ichigo looks at her hands, her cheeks red as she starts fiddling with her fingers.

A gentle wind blows and Kisshu closes her eyes to take it all in. "This feels so nice," he mumbles. She opens her eyes and raises her hand to her hair. "It will feel a lot better with this thing off." Ichigo looks up at her in confusion as Masaya looks at Kisshu is surprise. There's nothing on her head so what does she mean?

Masaya asks, "Are you sure?"

"I can trust, Ichigo. She's appears to be a trustworthy girl." Then the most surprising thing happens. Kisshu pulls the long coal black hair off and short dark emerald green hair appears in its place. Ichigo's eyes widen when she sees that. The black hair…is a wig?! Without the long hair, Ichigo notices a big difference.

Kisshu shakes her head a bit to let the hair fly free and exclaims, "Now that feels nice!" Then Kisshu turns to Ichigo and smiles. "I love it up here, kitty cat." Ichigo is just pale with shock. Kisshu loses his smile and she asks, "What's wrong?"

Then to add another surprise, Ichigo goes up to Kisshu and places her hand on her chest. Both Kisshu and Masaya are surprise as she smoothes her hand up and down, searching for something big and round but there is nothing. Not even something small and round. She looks up at him, even paler as she asks with a shaky voice, "Y-y-y-y-y-ou're a-a-a-a-a boy?!" Her chest is flat.

When Ichigo looks up at Kisshu, she can see that she looks completely different without the wig. Or rather HE. Kisshu has short dark emerald green hair but he has hair strands in front of both of his big elf like ears that are four inches longer. Long enough to touch his shoulders and they're bond by red bandages.

Okay so maybe removing the hair shouldn't be that much of a shock. There are guys that have long hair, like Deep Blue for example, and there are girls with short hair, like Pudding. But for Kisshu, it's like the biggest gender change in one simple move.

Kisshu brings his smile back as he answers, "Guilty! Sorry about that."

"T-t-then does that mean…" Ichigo begins to ask, pointing to both Kisshu and Masaya. "You two are…are…"

Masaya asks, "Lovers?" Kisshu looks at him with a raised brow as Ichigo looks at him from the response. Masaya just smiles as he answers, "No, we're not. We're still siblings."

"But you two don't look anything alike now!" Ichigo reminds. Then she points to the female-impostor. "And you're a cyniclon!"

Kisshu corrects, "We're adoptive brothers."

"Well technically, we adopted each other," Masaya explains. "We had both lost our parents when we met and we've stuck to each other since. When we were old enough to perform, we decided to do a dancing act. Kisshu is pretty enough to be a girl so he took the girl part. I don't exactly look good in a dress. We figure that if he wears a long hair wig with the same hair color as me, then it would support the fact that we're siblings."

Then a hand grasps one of Ichigo's that's still on Kisshu's chest. Ichigo looks up to see pleasing eyes and a smirk on Kisshu's face. His face is close to hers as he tells her, "Forgive me for tricking you, Ichigo and please accept this holy kiss." Then he kisses her cheek. Masaya blinks in surprise as Ichigo's red from the kiss.

Soon she pushes him off her and tells him, "Holy my butt! Get off me!" Now this is unexpected. Both Masaya and Kisshu are surprise to see this reaction and Kisshu becomes the first to smile in delight.

"Looks like the kitty has claws after all," he says. He leans close to her again and Ichigo stares up at him, her heart now pounding in her chest from the sudden closure and the nervous feeling she has now she knows he's a boy. "You're a feisty kitty. I like a girl with spunk."

Ichigo backs away and she glares at him as best as she can. "Y-You're a jerk! You know that right?"

Kisshu steps closer and tells her, "Only to you I am. And your angry face is really cute."

"Stop calling me that already!" She screamed that time and it even made Kisshu back off a little. She's looking down and her arms rise up to hold herself as she tells them, "Please stop calling me that. I know I'm not cute. I'm just a demon who lives in a church. An abomination."

The brothers spare a look at one another for a moment before Kisshu bends a little to try and see Ichigo's face. "And…who told you that?"

"My master and guardian, Deep Blue."

Kisshu looks at her surprised like he couldn't believe his giant ears and Masaya cuts in asking, "How could a cruel man raise a kind girl like you?"

Ichigo blushed from his compliment, as any girl probably would, but she quickly defends, "My master is not cruel. Scary, yes, but saved my life. He took me in when no one else would. Not even my own parents could stand the sight of me so his words are true."

Like his brother-senses were tingling, Masaya spares Kisshu a look and he's just about to say something Masaya know is going to come. Quickly he pokes his side. Kisshu and Ichigo look at him confused for that answer and a short silent conversation passes between the brother's eyes. It ended with Kisshu rolling his eyes at him. A question mark expression is on Ichigo's face.

Looking uncomfortable to revise his words, Kisshu asks, "I'm sure your master also had a few things to say about gypsies and cyniclons, am I right?" She nods. "I'm a cyniclon and Masaya's a gypsy. Are either of us like what he says?"

"My master does says that you're liars, thieves, and cheats. I'm still debating one of those traits with you." Ouch, she said that to him without hesitating.

Kisshu looks like he's just been struck down with an arrow of her words so Masaya takes over again. "Believe me, Ms. Ichigo. My brother's cross-dressing is the only lie he's ever told. He's actually a very honest person. But do you not believe me because you think I'm a liar?"

Instantly, Ichigo panics. "Oh no, no, no! I mean…my master says other stuff but you two are nothing like he says. You're both kind and good and-"

Masaya intercepts, "A gypsy and a cyniclon. May I see your hand?"

"W-Why?"

"Just for a look. I promise it won't hurt."

He's look at her right in the eye and Ichigo feels like an angel is looking at her. Not in the same way with Pudding, Lettuce, and Zakuro and they're the real thing. Masaya is the first real person to look at her with such goodness, unlike Deep Blue. So she feels more at ease to comply. She gives him her hand, shaking a little but he doesn't mind when Masaya opens her palm and analyzes it.

His hand is so warm…

"You see this line here?" he asks, pointing to one of the lines on her palm. "It means you'll have a long life, and this one means you can freely express emotions and feelings." Then he looks a little lost. "Hmm, I don't see any."

"What?" Ichigo panics.

Masaya shows her palm to Kisshu's way. "Let him look at it for a bit. He's the one who taught me how to palm-read."

"We had to do something besides just dancing all the time." Kisshu takes Ichigo's hand and Ichigo nearly gasps from how his and still feels cold compared to his brother. But like before, it's a comforting cool feeling. Not icy cold that she's used to. It's almost like Kisshu's skin sends a bolt of electricity through her and is restarting her heart to a faster speed. Why are the sensations she feels with him different from Masaya? "If you were looking for _those_ lines, I don't see them either."

"See what?"

Both brothers respond, "Demon lines." Ichigo widens her eyes to that.

While Kisshu holds Ichigo's hand underneath, Masaya places his touch back on top of hers. "I couldn't find any demon lines and Kisshu has sharper eyes than I do."

"I didn't find a single one, kitty cat. So maybe your master was wrong about the three of us. Don't you think?"

Ichigo doesn't answer. If she could describe how she feels right now, it would be like she can't breathe. Like how the sunset view stole their breath away, Masaya's and Kisshu's words and their hands steal hers. Their warm words and tender hands…

"If I'm not a demon then, what am I?" she asks, barely a whisper.

Kisshu answers that one. "An adorable kitty cat." He also flicks her nose when he said that. On instinct, Ichigo flinches away and then covers her nose with a glare peeking over her hands.

"I told you to stop calling me," she mumbles, her voice sounding muffled.

Kisshu has a weird look in his eyes that Ichigo is not familiar with. Whatever it is, she is not backing down from him. Even when he cups her chin under her hands and strokes her cheek with his thumb. "Deny it all you want. You're adorable and I'm an honest person, remember?"

'_Yeah, maybe a little too honest!'_ She really wants to scratch him right now, if it'll get him away from her!

But then they hear Masaya say, "There sure are a lot of guards down there." They see him looking over the rail but instead of seeing the stary night sky that snuck over them, he's looking down.

Kisshu walks over to join him and he looks down to see the same thing. His teasing mood goes south at the sight. "I thought it was only one guard at every door."

"Unless that's the night shift guards, replacing them." Both brothers end up sighing. Then there is silence until Masaya asks, "You're calculating, aren't you?"

"Yep," Kisshu replies.

"Without your powers, it's going to be difficult."

"Which is why I'm calculating."

"You two want to leave?" Ichigo asks, grabbing back their attention. They see her with the same pleading eyes of a child. "B-But you both have sanctuary. You'll be safe here." The men can see her feelings clear as day. She doesn't want them to leave.

But Kisshu explains to her, "It's not the same as freedom, kitty cat, and something like that requires risk. Otherwise, what's the point of living? We can't stay here."

The hurt she felt is also visible for them to see. She drops her head and watches her fingers fold over each other.

"R-Right, I understand," she mumbles. Then she sees Masaya's hand land on top of hers. She looks up to see him so close.

"It's not like that, Ms. Ichigo," he smiles kindly to her. "What you've shown us of your home, it's incredible. You have all this space to yourself and I'm sure not even the King himself has this view. It's just our nature."

Kisshu repeats, " 'Cyniclons don't do well in small, contained places,'" sounding grumpy from just saying them.

"And 'gypsies don't do well inside stone walls.' Is that the right stereotype?" Kisshu snaps and points to that – correct.

Ichigo looks between the two of them and then comes to the decision. She release one hand to put on top of Masaya's and she tells him, "You both helped me. Not it's my turn to help you." She slides her hands away when she walks to the edge and does a handstand on the rail. Both brothers watch as she turns and then lands on the other side with her hands still hold on so she won't fall. She did that so effortlessly. "I grew up climbing this building. I know the easiest way down and away from the Cathedral entrances. How well are your acrobats?"

"Pretty average," Masaya replies.

"But don't go too easy on us!" Kisshu swings his body over the rail and instead of grabbing on like Ichigo did, he continues to fall. There is a gargoyle pillar sticking out from the side and he catches that. Then Kisshu swings up so he could land his feet on it. "Now this is a risk."

Masaya climbs onto the rail, like a normal person. No fancy tricks, and he pleads his brother with a smile, "Kisshu, please don't do anything too risky. Remember, you're just as weak as I am with those wards on."

And as usual, Kisshu ignores him. "Show us the way then, kitty cat!"


End file.
